Firefighters rescued 10 people - including a pregnant woman - from a fire in a block of flats this morning.

A nine metre ladder was used to get an adult and two children, believed to be aged around eight and 10, from the first floor of the four storey building.

The seven other people were led to safety down an internal staircase.

When the crews arrived at Tressider House, in Poynders Road, Clapham, at around 2.30am a sofa was alight in a communal area by a staircase.

Firefighters from West Norwood, Clapham and Brixton had the fire out within 10 minutes and were at the scene until 4.30am.

A crew member at Clapham said: "A sofa was set alight in a communal stairwell.

A number of people were at their windows waving when we arrived.

"There is a lot of smoke damage, above the settee in the communal hallway plaster has peeled away, the sofa has completely gone.

"Ironically earlier in the week we fitted smoke alarms in the building during a fire safety risk assessment and they were all going off."

Ten people were suffering from smoke inhalation and seven people were taken to hospital, including a pregnant woman.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and is being treated as suspicious.