Firefighters have rescued a Doncaster woman from her bedroom window after a wheelie bin was put up against her front door and set alight.

The crews, from Edlington and Rotherham, were forced to carry her to safety using a ladder, before giving her oxygen therapy for smoke inhalation.

They had been called to the semi-detached house on Ellershaw Lane, Conisborough, just after 10.30 on Thursday night, and arrived quickly to find the lit bin pushed up against the front door. Fortunately neighbours had sprayed the front door with a dry powder extinguisher, helping to contain the fire, but the door was still burnt and the house smoke damaged.

The woman, who was in her 20s and the only occupier at the time, did not need to attend hospital, but firefighters have warned that wheelie bin fires can have fatal consequences.

Watch Manager Daz Robertson said: “Setting fire to wheelie bins may seem like a game but this woman could have been seriously injured or even killed if she hadn’t been alerted by smoke alarms fitted by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, and the prompt actions of her neighbours. Setting any kind of fire can put people at risk, but deliberately placing a wheelie bin against a front door is extremely serious.”

WM Robertson added a reminder to residents throughout South Yorkshire to park their cars leaving enough space for emergency vehicles to gain access. He said: “There were some cars double-parked on this road and it was difficult to get our fire appliance through to the incident. I had to get out of the vehicle and run the last 100 metres or so on foot to make my initial assessment and give advice to this woman, before the appliance managed to get through. It didn’t affect the outcome of this incident but on another occasion this sort of delay could hamper us significantly.”