A PARAMEDIC spent a frantic 10 minutes attempting to save the life of one of the victims of Bolton's Moat House Hotel blaze.

Dave Cook was at the hotel within minutes of the fire breaking and recalled seeing smoke billowing from the third floor.

Seconds later he was escorted into the burning building by firefighters who directed him towards the woman and her husband.

The pair had been pulled from the flames and placed in a room next to the hotel foyer by the firemen, who were attempting to resuscitate them.

Mr Cook recalled seeing the two bodies, both badly burned in the fire, and immediately attempted to revive the woman while another crew tackled the man.

Both, however, died at the Royal Bolton Hospital. Two other hotel guests were admitted for treatment after suffering the effects of smoke.

Mr Cook said: "I immediately checked the woman's pulse and breathing but when I couldn't find anything I started my attempts to resuscitate her.

"I could see she had extensive burns to her arms and face although I couldn't see the rest of her body because it was covered up.

"Everything was a real blur. The main thing for me, though, was to concentrate on stabilising the patient."

Mr Cook pulled into the Moat House car park in an ambulance driven by paramedic Brenda Moody.

The 51-year-old Bolton man described seeing a number of people waiting in a car park at the side of the hotel.

He said that was the moment he realised the situation was serious. "The smoke and the speed at which the firefighters escorted me into the building showed the extent of the incident," he said.

"Usually, when you get a call to fires it turns into nothing more than a false alarm."

Mr Cook, a paramedic with 29 years experience, was called to the scene shortly before 1am and arrived with a total fleet of four ambulances.

He praised the firefighters and hotel staff for their help during the incident and said: "It was tackled in a very professional and calm manner.

"It was a terrible incident but thankfully one dealt with very well."