A family had to climb down a ladder from a second floor window as their home burned in St Austell on Saturday.

Two fire appliances from St Austell and one from Fowey were called to Penrice just before 11pm.

Firefighters rescued the family from a second floor front bedroom using a ladder and two sets of breathing apparatus and extinguished the fire using one hosereel.

The cause of the fire was accidental. The smoke had activated the smoke alarms in the property and alerted the occupier.

Police and ambulance were also called to the scene.