A team of heroes rescued a mother and her daughter from their burning home after a fire broke out at a row of terraced houses in Swanley.

Animal rescuer John Ranger, 39, smashed his way into the burning terrace house at Conifer Way this morning rescuing the two women.

After one of the women passed out by her front door, mixologist Tommy Beavan, 25, helped drag the woman to safety.

Six fire engines and an aerial appliance tackled the flames, which began at the back behind one of the homes.

The cause of the fire remains unknown but one neighbour said she heard a loud bang at the property, suggesting there may have been an explosion.

Courageous John, who works for Second Chance Animal Rescue in Crockenhill, was with his partner Susan en-route to take his son to school when they took a dramatic detour after spotting the inferno.

He said: "We saw some smoke coming from the main road so we span the car around and went straight there.

"When we arrived there were two ladies in there who would not come out the house. They were trying to put it out but it was too big to put under control.

"So my partner and I dragged them out the house - but they just kept running back in."

John said that the mother and her daughter, both reportedly Nigerian, were screaming out for their son who went missing in the chaos.

He added that he had to physically stop them from going back in the house by guarding the front door.

Concerned for the son, who he understood to be young boy at the time, John risked his life once again and entered the burning building to find him.

Describing the scene, he said: "All the back door was on fire, the windows upstairs were all melted, it was a nightmare."

Later on, however, a boy in his late teens came running down the road who was confirmed to be the missing son.

"You just don't think about your own safety do you when you see something like that," said John. "Thinking back to it I feel quite shaken up. I have done in the tendons in my feet amidst it all."

Neighbours joined forces with John to ensure the safety of the victims, including Tommy Beavan who dragged a woman from the scene after she passed out by her front door.

He said: "A young lady was trying to put the flames out and the mum was passed out on the grass. I picked the mum up and tried to drag her out and fell over myself.

"Then the fire engines arrived and started to put the flames out. I dragged her up the road. She was out cold due to the flames.

"I chucked her over my shoulder, I got her to the corner and laid her on the floor."

The blaze spread to the roof space and extension of an adjoining property.

There are no reported casualties and the cause is not yet known. The two women were taken to hospital but are now thought to have been checked out.

Fire crews wearing breathing apparatus are tackling the blaze using two main jets, two special piercing tools, and water from two hydrants.

Glenn Davies, 56, lives next door to the flaming property. He said: "My sister phoned me to say my house was on fire but it was actually next door.

"For about three years their back garden has been full of rubbish it has been an accident waiting to happen.

"It has been like this since they moved in three years ago. It has left me feeling gutted.

"The fire has burned my satellite dish so I don't know if I'll be able to watch Sky."

Another neighbour Martin Parkinson, 45, has contacted his insurers after the blaze spread to his home, destroying his kitchen.

The parcel delivery driver said: "I'm absolutely gutted but the fire crews said I was lucky it didn't spread further.

"I was at my girlfriend's at the time and I'll have to move in with her because it could take months to sort out."