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A kickboxer booted down a door to rescue a family of three from a house inferno.

Darren Robinson, 42, has been hailed as a hero after he kicked down the front door and rescued the 19-year-old's mother from the smoke-filled hallway with the help of his neighbour Mark Reilly.

They dashed to the rescue after being woken by the screams of a teenage girl in the early hours.

Father-of-five Mark, 51, also put a ladder up to the bedroom window and saved the girl and her father from the blaze.

The Manchester Evening News reports also held down the door handle to open the lock as Darren kicked the door more than 20 times to smash it open. Mark's metal ladder melted in the blaze.

A mystery man who also took part in the rescue in Dovecote Lane, Little Hulton, Salford, left the scene afterwards and has not been identified.

Father-of-one Darren, a kitchen fitter who does Thai boxing, said: "I gave the door around 20 kicks and eventually broke the lock. I just don't know how she survived. The smoke was extremely toxic.

"I don't feel like a hero. I just did what anyone else would have done. I'm still in shock.

"I'd like to thank Elite Thai Boxing in Bolton for training me. The firemen couldn't believe that I kicked down the door."

Mark, who works for a dry cleaning firm, said: "I heard shouting and saw that there were people at the bedroom window. I went to get my ladder and steadied it while the man and his daughter climbed down.

"We could hear the girl's mother in the hallway. I held open the handle on the door as Darren started kicking. He would have broken my arm if he'd missed.

"When the door opened, the smoke was billowing out. It was pitch black. It just lifted for a moment and we saw the woman on the stairs so we dragged her out.

"When something like that happens, you don't think. You just do what you have to do. I'm just glad we got them out."

Firefighters from Farnworth and Atherton put out the blaze at 1.10am on Friday. The family were given oxygen and taken to hospital.

The fire is thought to have started when the woman, 49, fell asleep while smoking.

Firefighters have hailed the rescuers as heroes.

Crew manager Michael O'Neill from Farnworth Fire Station said: "If it wasn't for the actions of the neighbours, this incident could have turned out much worse."