Two people leapt from a first floor window after flames and smoke engulfed their house early this morning.

Firefighters fought flames of up to 40 feet as they extinguished a blaze in Charlton Marshall.

A man and the woman were stranded in the first floor bedroom of the large property in Bournemouth Road and were forced to jump into the garden below to avoid being overcome by smoke and flames.

Incident commander, Louis Minchella said: "By the time the first crew arrived they immediately began casualty care of the occupants, and established that there was no-one else inside.

"Shortly afterward, the other crews arrived and began defensive firefighting from the outside of the property since the flames were at least 30-40 feet high at this point so it was impossible to go inside."

The A350 at Charlton Marshall has been closed due to the instability of the house and is likely to remain shut until later in the morning.

The electricity board, building control and water board were also on scene to assist with the incident and some properties in the village were left without electricity when the supply to the property was turned off.

The couple were treated for smoke inhalation, burns and injuries associated with the jump from the first floor bedroom.

They were taken to hospital for further treatment.

Louis added: "We know that they did have smoke alarms but they were not working or tested, which is like having a useless bit of plastic tacked to your ceiling.

"If they had had them working, they would have had a much earlier warning signal and would not have lost their home and contents, and had to suffer what has happened.

"Although we are of course pleased that they made it out alive - it was a very close call."

The cause is being investigated when it is safe to enter the house, but this may not be for some time.

It is not thought to be suspicious.

A total of eight appliances were called in to tackle the blaze including crews from Poole and Wimborne.