A blaze on Ipswich docks which required the attendance of around 20 firefighters is being treated as suspicious.

Ipswich Star: Photo courtesy of iwitness Peter ChambersPhoto courtesy of iwitness Peter Chambers (Image: (c) copyright citizenside.com)

A blaze on Ipswich docks which required the attendance of around 20 firefighters is being treated as arson.

But there is currently no indication how the fire in a building used for storage was started.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service crews were dispatched to the scene just off Landseer Road shortly before 6pm today.

Smoke was seen billowing from the Anglo Norden building and Suffolk Constabulary was called to cordon off part of the road.

Ipswich Star: Photo courtesy of iwitness Peter ChambersPhoto courtesy of iwitness Peter Chambers (Image: (c) copyright citizenside.com)

It took around 30 minutes to tackle the worst of the fire in the two storey brick building, but was not classed as fully under control until around 7.40pm.

On Saturday morning police appealed for help to trace “a person seen leaving the building” just before the fire started. Anyone with information should call officers on 101.

Three fire engines were involved along with the service’s aerial ladder platform.

Station Commander Simon Hurst said crews arrived to find a well developed fire.

“They got to work with hose reels and jets,” he said.

“We’re treating it as suspicious because of its nature. There’s nothing in there to catch fire in the normal way.

“There’s no electricity in there so its more likely to have been deliberately set.”

Mr Hurst added the building was made of brick and concrete so there was little damage to its structural integrity, but wood panelling inside was what had been burning.

He also said of the detached building: “It is probably about 15 metres by 10m and the fire has probably been involved in about 30% of the building.”

It is understood there was no one in the building but it did contain 200 tonnes of rock salt in large bags.

Relief fire crews were called to the scene to monitor the site at around 7pm and it was expected they would remain on site for a further hour.

An investigation will now be carried out to determine the cause of the fire.