POLICE last night confirmed they had found a body inside the wreckage of a house in Suffolk which was destroyed in a fierce blaze.It is believed to be that of Frank Dickman, who was the occupant of Six Acre Farm, at Little Blakenham.

POLICE last night confirmed they had found a body inside the wreckage of a house in Suffolk which was destroyed in a fierce blaze.

It is believed to be that of Frank Dickman, who was the occupant of Six Acre Farm, at Little Blakenham.

The blaze broke out in the early hours of yesterday and left the property in ruins.

Yesterday, neighbours told how they dashed to the scene after hearing loud explosions.

Trevor McDowell, of Little Box Meadow, Little Blakenham, and another resident of the village ran to in a frantic Mr Dickman.

Mr McDowell's wife Susan said: "We were asleep in our bedroom and heard a cracking noise. We looked out of the window and saw Frankie's house on fire.

"My husband raced downstairs to phone the fire brigade and then came back to get dressed. Then he ran down to Frankie's.

"We could hear somebody already at the house shouting his name. By the time my husband got there he couldn't get anywhere near the property. It had gone up like a matchbox."

The other man who ran to the house, who did not wish to be named, said: "We both went down to the cottage to see if we could find the elderly man, who we know lives there.

"We had a look as best we could but we were unable to find him. We do not know if he was in the house at the time."

Although the pensioner had been known to sleep in his shed and other outbuildings, it is feared he was at home when the blaze broke out. Police last night confirmed they had found what was believed to be his body.

Fire crews from across Suffolk were called to Six Acre Farm, at a place known as Leather Bottle Hill, in Somersham Road, at about 1.20am.

Crews from Needham Market, Ipswich and Felixstowe were called to the cottage blaze.

It took firefighters just under three hours to bring the blaze under control but still some eight hours after the fire first broke out, smoke could still be seen coming from the property.

An investigation as to how the fire started is being carried out, but it is not being treated as suspicious.