Police have arrested a man in connection with a blaze which spread throughout a block of flats.

Fire crews were called to the building, a former workhouse, in Union Road, Onehouse, near Stowmarket on Saturday at about 1.30pm.

The fire began in the third floor of the property which is split into more than 40 flats.

Seven fire crews were called to the scene, along with several ambulances and police units.

Eyewitness Roger Evans said he and other residents had been alerted to the blaze by a woman “screaming up at the windows”.

He said: “Someone had pulled up outside because they had seen the fire.

“A lot of us were coming out and someone said ‘there’s a fire up there’. And then the fire brigade arrived and they did get people out. They turned the gas and electric off to most of the flats.”

The flames spread to the second floor flat before they were extinguished.

One person was seen by paramedics at the scene after suffering from smoke inhalation but there were no other injuries.

A police spokesman said a 24-year-old man from Ipswich had been arrested on suspicion of arson.

He has been released on bail to return to police on September 11.