More than 250 firefighters from across the UK have signed an open letter to voters ahead of May’s general election to draw attention to the challenges and extreme pressure they have faced due to the coalition government’s cuts to the public sector.

Neighbours Darren Mellor and Andy Harris pulled a 63-year-old woman and the man, 55, from the blaze on Brooklands Close around 6am on Wednesday morning.

Around 30 firefighters tackled a serious blaze at a day care centre in Withington throughout the early hours of this morning.

The number of days the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) has lost to stress totals 5,981 over the last three years, with the total sky-rocketing from 2013 onwards.

An intense fire has torn through a derelict school building overnight in Bolton.

Neal Pickersgill is watch manager for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service

Firefighters were called to a dirt track in Stalybridge

£30,000 in cash also seized from address in Mark Lane, Shaw

A waste pile is believed to have self-combusted yesterday

Six passengers taken to hospital with minor injuries

Fire was caused by overheating tumble drier