A WOMAN was air-lifted to the Morriston Hospital in Swansea on Sunday with serious burns, following a house fire at Fetter Hill near Coleford.

A passing motorist saw the woman fall from an upstairs window shortly before midday and raised the alarm with a neighbour.

The injured woman was named locally as 55-year-old Lesley Tickner.

Neighbour Mary Wintle was pruning the bushes in her garden when the driver screeched to a half outside her house and approached her.

She said: "I phoned the emergency services at 11:58am before going round to see what I could do.

"I was unable to get very close to the house as it was ablaze with flames coming out of the upstairs windows.

"It was a very frightening situation, but thankfully it wasn't long before the fire service and police arrived."

The blaze was so intense that a fire brigade water tanker from Cheltenham, filled with 12,000 litres, was required to help put out the flames.

For the full story, read The Forester.