RESIDENTS in a block of Blackpool Promenade flats were dramatically evacuated when fire broke out -- just hours before a new alarm system was due to be switched on.

Eight fire crews from the the Fylde coast and as far away as Blackburn raced to Regent Court, on the corner of Banks Street and North Promenade, as terrified residents escaped from the smoke-filled flats yesterday morning (August 16).

The area was cordoned off as firefighters wearing breathing apparatus, pictured here at the scene, entered the ten-storey building just after 10am, and led several residents to safety.

One woman was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Residents Catherine Collins, 21, and her 16 year-old-sister Heyley, first noticed smoke coming from a service duct in their fourth floor bathroom.

Catherine said: "It was about ten o'clock when we first noticed it. Smoke was just pouring through the shaft. It was terrifying. She added: "We had convinced the flats committee that we ought to have a fire alarm system installed, and it was in the process of being fitted. Now it has definitely been proven that we need one." Harry Hopkinson, acting chairman of the Regent Court committee, confirmed the system was about to be switched on, possibly the following day.

He said with so many elderly and disabled residents, the system was a "must".

It is thought that the fire started between the first and second floors, causing smoke to travel around the building and into the flats through service ducts.

Dougie Green, of loss assessors Bell Green, put the cost of the smoke and fire damage at tens of thousands of pounds.

Blackpool Roly-Poly star Mo Moreland was also at the scene. She said: "There was smoke belching out when I got there. I used to live in the flats and I have got a lot of friends in there. I was very worried about them."

She praised the local hotels for their help in giving shelter and refreshments to the rescued residents.

And she was relieved that everyone had been led out to safety. "Smoke is so dangerous," she told the Citizen. "Buildings can be replaced. People can't."