Neighbours are mourning the death of a “happy child” who was killed when fire ripped through her home.

More than 20 firefighters were called to Solomon Avenue in Upper Edmonton on Thursday to reports of a blaze in a ground floor flat shortly after 5.15pm.

A four-year old girl and her grandmother were rescued from the flat, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

The grandmother, who is in her late 40s and is disabled, is recovering in hospital.

Courtney Ramsay, who lives in the flat above, said he became aware of the fire when a neighbour banged on his door and shouted for him to get out.

He had tears in his eyes as he stood in the smoke-damaged hallway and described how he and his neighbours had tried to rescue the child and her grandmother.

He said: “I ran down the stairs in bare feet, I could see thick black clouds of smoke pouring up the stairwell, the air was black with it.

“I decided I had to do something, so I ran upstairs to get my trainers and I and a group of neighbours tried kicking down the door, but we couldn’t get it open despite kicking it again and again. Then the fire brigade arrived.

“It’s so awful. I have a six-year-old son, it could have been him. We tried our best to save them but we could do nothing.”

Ozlem Bastug, who lives in the flat opposite and witnessed the fire from her bedroom window, thinks she was one of the last people to see the child alive.

The mother-of-two said: “I saw them going into the flat as I was heading out to collect my son from nursery.

"The grandmother was friendly, she was a very distinctive figure in her mobility scooter, and the child seemed happy and well looked after.

“Later I saw them being taken out of the flat and laid outside while firefighters did their best to save them.

“The firefighters were amazing. It is horrible and heartbreaking something like this has happened here. I feel for the grandmother who must have been powerless to do anything, especially if she wasn’t in her wheelchair.”

Police confirmed an inquest will be opened to determine the cause of the fire and a post mortem will take place on Tuesday.

They are not treating the incident as suspicious.

Police are waiting to name the victims until all the next of kin have been informed.