FIVE people were taken to hospital when a devastating blaze broke out in a ground floor flat.

Two men living inside the home were rescued and taken to York Hospital with serious injuries after neighbours raised the alarm in the early hours of Friday morning.

Three other residents, including an 11-year-old boy and his mum, also received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Nelly, a greyhound, was also rescued from the flat and taken in by neighbours.

Firefighters from York, two engines from Acomb and an engine and aerial ladder platform from Huntington were sent to the scene along with four ambulances and police, in Lady Mill Garth, Clifton, at 2.37am. on Friday.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: "An investigation is on-going and the cause of the blaze is unknown at this time."

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said they are not investigating the incident.

Neighbour Brian Rutter, 38, was leaving for work when he spotted smoke coming from the flat.

He said: "When I looked at the flat it was up in smoke.

"After about five or 10 minutes I could hear someone shouting 'help me' and I phoned the fire brigade.

"I started shouting through the flat to see if everyone else was alright but I couldn't stay next to the door for too long because the smoke was so thick."

Amanda Rackstaw, 50, lives next door to the flat.

She added: "As I was getting ready for bed I heard the commotion and saw the lights, so I went out and checked which is when the police called me out.

"When I looked over to the flat I could see the flames coming out.

"The men have lived here ages but kept themselves to themselves."

Neighbour Lisa Lawton, 28, said she and her 11-year-old son Brooklyn were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, but both were later released.

She said: "I was woken up at 2.50am by the firemen and told to get out. I opened the door and saw a fireman who said I need you to get out because there is smoke everywhere. My son has asthma so they were concerned about him because he'd breathed in some smoke.

"I know that another neighbour, a woman was also taken to hospital."

Ms Lawton said she new the injured men by sight but not by name.

Another neighbour Jacob Blake, 23, added: "By the time I'd woken up I just saw fire engines and police outside.

"It was quite scary, there was smoke and flashing lights everywhere. You could see smoke all over the place and it was just a blur. It was scary because we didn't know where it was coming from."