FIVE people were hurt, at least one of them seriously, when fire swept through flats in Wetherby.

The victims were all taken to Harrogate Hospital after the blaze gutted the three-storey terraced property in North Street. One woman was later transferred to Pinderfields Hospital, in Wakefield, suffering from smoke inhalation and serious burns. She was later understood to be critically ill.

A second woman suffered head injuries when she was forced to leap to safety from her second-floor flat, and a man suffered leg burns.

The others all needed treatment for the effects of breathing in smoke.

Four ambulances were needed to deal with the casualties, and three fire crews from West Yorkshire and one from North Yorkshire attended and spent several hours tackling the blaze.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated today.

Updated: 10:35 Monday, March 17, 2003