Fire ripped through the cellar of a house in London Road after an electrical fault sparked a severe blaze last night.

IPSWICH: Fire ripped through the cellar of a house in London Road after an electrical fault sparked a severe blaze last night.

Terry Cullum, 62, was watching television with his partner, June Turner, at 9.45pm when the set flickered.

When Mr Cullum went to check the trip switch in the basement, he was confronted with flames.

“I walked down to the cellar and there were flames and smoke down there,” he said. “The circuit board was just on fire.

“I tried to fight it with a fire extinguisher but it wasn't worth it. We just had to get out.”

Mr Cullum lives in the ground-floor flat of the three-storey town house.

Luckily, both Mr Cullum and his partner, as well as the two tenants of the flat above, escaped the building unharmed.

Two fire crews from Prince's Street station in Ipswich wore breathing equipment and used a thermal imaging camera as they fought the fire, which was contained to the basement.

Despite getting the fire under control in a matter of minutes, the entire house was damaged by the smoke.

Group manager Geoff Pyke, Ipswich district commander for the fire service, said: “This was a severe fire of an electrical nature.

“Smoke has filled the building.

“Electrics can be very dangerous so we would advise anyone to call the fire brigade and get out.”