Firefighter and elderly resident hurt in Ipswich tower block fire

A firefighter needed medical treatment after tackling a blaze on the sixth floor of a tower block in which sprinklers have yet to be fitted.

The fire broke out inside the kitchen of one of the flats in Cumberland Towers, in Norwich Road, Ipswich, at 18:30 GMT on Friday.

An elderly man inside the flat was rescued by firefighters. He was taken to hospital for treatment.

About 30 firefighters from Suffolk and Essex attended the scene.

Part of Norwich Road was closed to traffic as crews dealt with the fire on Friday evening

The fire service said one of its firefighters - who was the first into the flat and rescued the elderly man - needed medical treatment for breathing in smoke at the scene.

He was treated by attending paramedics but did not need to go to hospital.

Suffolk Fire and Rescue group commander Will Tel said the cause of the blaze was under investigation.

"We have carried out some recent training here at Cumberland Tower, so all the crews arrived quickly and knew exactly what to do," he added.

The tower block is currently undergoing a £1m refurbishment.

Ipswich MP Sandy Martin said plans were afoot to install sprinklers in the building following the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London in which scores of people died.