Around 20 firefighters battled a blaze and pulled a woman to safety from a flat in Maidenhall Approach this evening.

Four crews, from Ipswich East, Holbrook and two from Princes Street, were called to the fire just before 9pm.

Ambulances also attended and there was a police presence outside the flats more than an hour after the fire was extinguished shortly after 9.30pm.

The fire was in a ground floor flat and the casualty, who an eyewitness said could have been in her late teens, was rescued by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus before being taken away to hospital.

A police officer at the scene confirmed one person had gone to hospital and they were trying to work out what had happened.

He also confirmed that other people living in the building had returned to their flats after the fire was put out.

Richard Johnston lives opposite the flats and said there was a lot of smoke.

“There was black smoke in the bottom two windows, the hallway and the upstairs hallway and stairwell as well,” Mr Johnston said. “They pulled someone out, I think it was a young girl, 18 or 19. Two people carried her out.

“There were about four or five fire engines. They were outside for quite a while. They (the firefighters) went in with the hose and you could see them inside.”