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CCTV footage has captured the moment a Sheffield house went ablaze last night in a sudden “explosion” which saw four people – including a seven-year-old girl – taken to hospital.

Neighbours of a house that went up in flames on Wordsworth Avenue, Parsons Cross, have described the "traumatising" moment they heard a "loud" bang on Tuesday night. Emergency services rushed to the scene just before 9pm following reports of a fire at the property.

South Yorkshire Police remain at the scene today (March 22) and a police cordon between Donovon Road and Avisford Road remains in place as they continue to carry out an investigation with South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue to determine the cause of the fire. It is reported that four people, including a 47-year-old woman and a seven-year-old girl, were taken to hospital with injuries not thought to be life threatening.

CCTV given to The Star has shown how the dramatic blaze broke out when a sudden explosion shook the two-storey house. The footage shows how, at 8.54pm on March 21, a car arrived outside the home on Wordsworth Avenue. Seconds later, the second storey was set ablaze by an explosion which quickly spread to the entire home.

Neighbours told The Star how they rushed to help the people inside. Two people - a seven-year-old girl and a 47-year-old woman - were rescued from inside by fire officers.

A man then sprinted down the street in the direction of Donovan Road, then ran back up again towards the home before climbing into a car and disappearing from sight. The car then drove away at high speed.

Neighbours told The Star how they looked out their windows to see smoke “billowing out of the house” and they heard “a lot of screaming” from inside.

Within minutes of the explosion, the fire service arrived at the scene, who then rescued two people from inside – the young girl and woman. Two men are reported to have got themselves out of the house – one of whom leapt from a second storey window and was reportedly left with bloodied injuries.

One woman told The Star how she and her neighbours rushed to the home to help the people inside. She said: “There was a loud bang and an explosion. The house caught fire immediately. We were not even able to go inside and get them out ourselves.”

A fire spokesperson reported that the fire was out by 10.12pm.

Wordsworth Avenue fire: Watch the dramatic video showing the devastating ‘explosion’ at family home