FIRE crews are currently battling to control a house fire in a Suffolk village.

FIREFIGHTERS were called to a home this afternoon after a chip pan caught alight and caused severe damage to the property.

The blaze broke out around 3.45pm in Winchester Gardens, Barham, near Ipswich.

When firefighters arrived they found the ground floor of the two storey semi detached property well alight.

Crews from Princes Street and Colchester Road in Ipswich and Needham Market attended and used breathing apparatus and hose reels to extinguish the flames.

It is believed the fire started in a chip pan and that one man - who escaped without injury - was in the property at the time of the incident.

Jon Southgate, station manager at Ipswich, who was in charge at the scene, said: “Initially two appliances were called but due to the number of repeat calls that the control room received they sent a third appliance - the fire was seen by a lot of people.

“The crew were faced with a well developed fire in the kitchen and extension of the property.

“We deployed breathing apparatus crews with hose reels inside and outside of the property to tackle the fire. Their early actions certainly prevented a more severe fire taking hold. Unfortunately 40% of the ground floor has been severely damaged by fire and the whole property has smoke damage to it.”