A TERRIFIED tenant today told how a fire ripped through a shed just metres from her flat, forcing her and her neighbours to flee.An arson investigation has now been launched after a fire in three wheelie bins spread to a shed engulfing the nearby flats in smoke at around 12.

A TERRIFIED tenant today told how a fire ripped through a shed just metres from her flat, forcing her and her neighbours to flee.

An arson investigation has now been launched after a fire in three wheelie bins spread to a shed engulfing the nearby flats in smoke at around 12.15am today.

Mary Parsons was woken by her son Peter who had heard the fire take hold in the sheds behind the flats in Highfield Road in the Whitehouse area of town.

Mrs Parsons, 64, said: “My son came in and said 'mum phone the fire brigade'.

“I thought he was dreaming because he had been asleep, but by then my son had been out and saw the fire.

“I called the fire brigade straight away.”

Mrs Parsons was one of several neighbours who had to flee the flats after a fire in a wheelie bin spread to some adjacent sheds and threatened to consume their properties.

She said: “I was frightened, the place was full of smoke and then it came into my flat and I'm an asthmatic.

“The fire brigade put it out and made sure everybody was alright. I've never been so scared, I don't feel safe now in my home.”

Mrs Parsons, has lived at the flat with her 31-year-old son for about four years.

She said: “There's never been any problems like this before. I'm glad my son woke up.”

Firefighters from the Colchester Road fire station were called and they evacuated the flats due to what Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service described as “excessive smoke”.

The fire was brought under control by 12.55am.

The fire service said the cause of the blaze is being treated as suspicious.

n. Were you involved in the fire? Contact The Evening Star news desk on 01473 324788 or email starnews@eveningstar.co.uk