Firefighters are at Cumberland Towers sheltered flats near Ipswich town centre this evening for a regular training session at the 11-storey block.

Ipswich Star: Cumberland Towers in Norwich Road. Picture: SU ANDERSONCumberland Towers in Norwich Road. Picture: SU ANDERSON

It is the second training session to be staged at the Norwich Road tower block by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service since the Grenfell Tower disaster in London, but crews have regular training sessions at the flats several times a year.

Cumberland Towers has been used as sheltered accommodation for older tenants since the 1980s, and the firefighters work there regularly to keep up to date with modern practices – and to provide reassurance to residents.

An extra training session was fitted in earlier this month after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and there was already one planned session due to take place tonight.

We will be joining the firefighters to see how they work in a tower block and to speak to some of the residents about the training work going on in their homes.

A full report and more pictures will be published on our website tomorrow morning.