'Frantic' knocks, soaring heat and a cat 'lowered in carrier with a rope' as neighbours scramble after fire breaks out

Neighbours in a quiet corner of Tameside rushed to help each other after smoke began billowing above a takeaway. Residents were woken to the sound of ‘frantic’ knocking and sirens after a blaze broke out on Smallshaw Lane, in Ashton-under-Lyne, this morning (Saturday).

Just minutes after calls to 999 at 8.14am, seven fire engines had raced to the scene, while police cordoned off roads nearby. People living close to the scene had already begun to help each other out before the first blue light arrived in the neighbourhood.

Mark Lloyd was sweeping his front garden when he noticed smoke coming from above the Chilli Pickle takeaway, around the corner from his home. As he began getting the attention of residents on Smallshaw Lane, he noticed two people stuck in a flat above the laundrette next door to the take-away.

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Mark told the Manchester Evening News : "There was smoke going up and then it turned to flames. It seemed to be at the back of the building at first.

"We knocked at the neighbours', then in the window above the laundrette two faces came through the window. They couldn't get out from where they were because the fire seemed to be at the back of the building.

"All the alarms were going off at the Chilli Pickle. The smoke was coming out from the roof space. It looked like they had put the fire out at one point but then it came back. It was raging."

Mark says fire crews arrived within moments and rushed to rescue the two residents above the laundrette. He added: "They seemed okay, just shaken up. It was just fortunate people were about at that time."

Before crews arrived, neighbours had already