A WOMAN was rescued from a loft window as fire raged through a derelict hotel which nearby residents claim is being used as a drugs den.

The fire swept through the former Avon Court Hotel in Bromwich Street, The Haulgh, last night as the 20-year-old trapped in the loft screamed for help from a window as flames swept up the staircase outside her bedroom.

Fire crews climbed ladders 40ft up the front of the boarded-up building.

Bolton fireman Darren Collier, aged 28, lifted the woman through the window and carried her to safety.

The woman was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital with cuts, bruises and smoke inhalation but released later.

Police said the derelict building was being used as a drugs den and fire crews faced a gauntlet of hyperdermic needles strewn across the floor as they walked inside.

One fireman cut his hand on glass and was taken to hospital for checks.

Sub officer Mick Sutherland, from Bolton Central Fire Station said the trapped woman was lucky to be alive.

He added: "When we arrived we could hear her screaming, but we could not see her because of the flames and the smoke. It was a very serious fire. One of our firefighters went up a ladder and only just managed to glimpse her.

"Then he climbed onto the roof and got her down. She was hanging half way out of a window."

Neighbours say the historic run-down Victorian semi -- a hotel just two years ago -- was being used as a squat by prostitutes and drug dealers.

They reported seeing at least three small fires in an upstairs room in the past few days.

One resident said: "We have been trying to get these people evicted for at least three months. Every time the police moved them away they kept coming back. They would climb inside through the cellar and then stay upstairs.

"We feared something like this would happen. But at least we were here to call the fire brigade. That girl could have died."

Six firefighters searched the house after putting out the blaze at 7pm. They found it was littered with hundreds of needles. Firefighter John Duff, a 46-year-old father-of-one, cut his hand on glass during the rescue attempt.

His colleagues at Moor Lane Fire Station had an anxious hour-long wait before hearing news that he had not caught an infection.

He went back on duty last night after doctors gave him the all-clear.

He and 40,000 firefighters across Britain were on strike less than 10 hours earlier as part of their campaign for better pay.