An investigation is today under way following a suspicious fire at a hotel in Ipswich.

The blaze, which gutted a shed in the grounds of the The Chequers Hotel yesterday afternoon, is being treated as arson.

Three fire engines were called to the incident at the Ancaster Road building at 4.45pm.

Two engines from the Princes Street depot and one crew from Colchester Road attended the scene.

On arrival crews found a blaze in a shed and used two hose reel jets and four sets of breathing apparatus to tackle the fire.

The fire was extinguished at 4.21pm but police officers were then called to the scene to examine the damaged building.

One nearby resident said: “There were three fire engines parked outside the hotel so I guessed that something serious was happening.

“There were no plumes of smoke or anything and it looked like the fire was put out fairly quickly.

“The hotel is always quite busy but it’s a pretty quiet area round here so seeing lots of blue flashing lights was a bit of a shock.”

Another added: “There was some smoke coming from a building near the hotel and it looks badly damaged.”

Nobody from the Chequers Hotel was available for comment last night.

A spokeswoman for the Suffolk Fire Service confirmed that the blaze was being treated as arson and that police are to investigate the incident.

Anyone with information on the blaze is asked to contact Suffolk police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.