Passers-by saved a woman’s life today following a fire at a flat in Tipton.

The blaze broke out shortly after 7.20am, trapping the 27-year-old inside the flat above the Lifestyle Express supermarket in Tividale Road.

Shoppers below saw the smoke, and two passing workmen stopped their van and used a hammer to smash the window of the first-floor flat, allowing her to breathe.

Commander Desmond Lloyd, of Oldbury fire station, said: “This lady was a matter of moments from death. If the window had not been smashed, then there is a chance she would not be alive now. Thankfully, she was able to breathe trough the window until we got here but if the window had not been broken, it could have all ended very differently.”

Investigations indicate the blaze could have been caused by an electrical fault.