A three-year-old girl was lowered to safety from a window after a wheelie bin was pushed up against the front door of the property she was in and set on fire.

The youngster was handed to refuse collectors who were nearby.

Twenty-four firefighters responded to the incident at Royston Mains Crescent in Edinburgh at around 7.30am yesterday.

A woman was also led to safety by the emergency services.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: "A bin had been placed against the front door of the property and set on fire.

"We used two breathing apparatus and one hosereel to extinguish the fire.

"A three-year-old female was lowered from the window into the care of binmen who were nearby prior to the arrival of the fire service and a 35-year-old female was led to safety by firefighters. They were treated at the scene by the ambulance crew but they didn't go to hospital."

Four pumping appliances, a height appliance and a fire investigation unit were involved in the operation at the two-storey building. Twenty-three firefighters and a senior officer were at the scene.

It followed the rescue of a man and two girls aged four and two from a flat in Linlithgow after a blaze broke out in a neighbouring home.

Crews had to break into the adjacent property during the incident on Saturday.

Six men from the flat on fire and another property managed to get themselves out of the block.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said they had suffered slight smoke inhalation and did not require hospital treatment.