A witness to the London tower inferno grabbed an axe and entered the building's second storey through a window in a bid to save residents.

Jody Martin told the BBC he had seen one person falling out a window and a woman holding her baby out of the building.

But he said there was so much smoke, his attempts to reach trapped residents were hopeless.

"You're watching them waving in the window and you know there's nothing they can do," Mr Martin told BBC radio.

He said it did not look like fire crews were able to get past the fourth floor - and spraying the building with water had not had much effect.

"Nobody would have been able to get out from the third floor upwards without assistance from the fire crew, and I don't think fire crews would have gone up any higher than that," he said.

As the building continued to smoulder, witnesses recounted dramatic scenes, including seeing people jumping from the tower.

"Slowly those apartments are getting engulfed in smoke, then flames," Mr Martin said.

"The smoke has just slowly engulfed them. There's tens, if not up to the hundred mark of people that have perished in this.

"I've personally witnessed a few people dying tonight."

The fire has been declared a "major incident" by London authorities.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed "a number of fatalities", while another 50 people have been taken to hospitals across London.