NEIGHBOURS today spoke of how they raised the alarm after an Ipswich flat caught fire.The occupant of the property was at work at the time of the fire, which was thought to have been caused by worn electrical wiring in the flat in Wilberforce Street at about 7.

NEIGHBOURS today spoke of how they raised the alarm after an Ipswich flat caught fire.

The occupant of the property was at work at the time of the fire, which was thought to have been caused by worn electrical wiring in the flat in Wilberforce Street at about 7.20pm.

Paul Vickers, who lives upstairs in the property, raised the alarm after he saw smoke coming out from under his neighbour's door.

"I was watching TV when all of a sudden it turned off, so I went outside to check the fuse box," he said.

"Two switches were down but one wouldn't go back up, that's when I smelt burning and came downstairs to see smoke piling out from underneath the door."

Mr Vickers then ran to a neighbour's house to call the fire brigade, before the neighbour's son smashed the window of the downstairs flat to see if anyone was inside.

"We thought that there might be someone still in the room so I tried knocking down the door while the other lad smashed the window, which cut his hand," he added.

Assistant Divisional Officer Paul Seager, of Suffolk Fire Service, said: "We believe that the fire was basically caused by a short circuit.

"We found cable running along the floor past a sliding door and think that over time the door has been continually closed on the cable, damaging it and causing it to short circuit.

"We are therefore not treating it as suspicious. The only damage that was caused was to the room itself, which is quite extensive.

"The neighbour that raised the alarm did all the right things. He knocked on everybody's door to alert them of the danger and then phoned us from a nearby property."