Neighbours have told of their terror after children had to be rescued from a fire at a block of flats.

The blaze happened at Stewart Court in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, at 1am on Tuesday.

Five adults and three children were rescued as the fire ripped through the building.

Lisa Mallon, who lives in the block with her five-year-old daughter, witnessed her neighbours climbing out windows to escape the smoke.

She said: "I could smell smoke. When I looked out of the peephole on my door, I couldn't see anything, it was black with smoke.

"Firefighters were taking my neighbour's kids out of the window.

"They were coming for me next but by then they managed to get the fire out.

"They then came and got me and my girl out. It was done really fast. They were great to be honest."

She added: "When I came out I could see it wasn't someone's house. It was the landing that had caught fire.

"We both said we were going to jump out onto the scaffolding if the fire service were any longer.

"I had my little girl in the house. I definitely had that thought in my head."

Around 25 firefighters were called before leaving the scene at 2.50am.

The cause of the fire is still unknown but the communal stairwell has been damaged.

Lisa said a baby was one of those who were rescued.

She added that everyone in the block was very "lucky".

"I could hear other people's smoke alarms before I heard mine," she said.

"My neighbour's two kids were taken out the window.

"She was very upset. She has a baby and a boy of around seven years old.

"We just want to know what happened and if it was deliberate.

"It's a great wee flat, all the neighbours are great.

"It's all families with kids and elderly people who live here.

"We just want to know what happened. At the end of the day, we were lucky."