NEIGHBOURS have been hailed as heroes after a pregnant woman and her three-year-old niece were rescued from their blazing home.

The 20-year-old woman threw the girl into the arms of neighbour Ernie Robinson.

Mr Robinson, 57, Ernie King, 41 and Daniel Hollins, 29, were able to lower the 20-year-old to safety from a top floor window of the house in Marley Pots, Sunderland.

The woman and her niece were taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital for treatment.

Firefighters needed about half an hour to put out the blaze, which destroyed the living room, where it is believed to have started, and damaged the rest of the property.

Station officer David Linsley praised the swift action of the neighbours, saying: "Undoubtedly, without their assistance, you could have been looking at fatalities."

But he said the rescue, at about 7.15am yesterday, could have been avoided if the house had been fitted with a smoke alarm.