Firefighters were scrambled to a Suffolk hospital this afternoon to reports of a fire.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to a fire in the maternity block at Ipswich Hospital just after 2.15pm.

An Ipswich Hospital spokesman has said that a dishwasher had started smoking heavily and the fire service was called as a precaution.

A Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesman added: “The hospital’s maintenance team pulled the appliance out of the wall, and with the help of the fire service put it out.”

The blaze was dealt with by just after 2.30pm.

No patients or staff were evacuated during the incident.