A woman was rescued from a first floor flat after a fire broke out in Poundbury.

There were dramatic scenes in the early hours of yesterday morning (22) as residents were evacuated and firefighters worked to reach the woman.

The fire broke out in a flat in Paceycombe Way just before 4am.

Police, fire crews and ambulance crews attended the incident.

A spokesman for Dorset Police said they were called by the ambulance service at 3.48am to a 'concern for welfare report' at an address in Paceycombe Way.

Officers were informed there was a fire at the address.

A Paceycombe Way resident said he was woken just before 4am.
"I couldn’t see too much, just the smoke coming out of the windows and firemen with breathing tanks on going up ladders to first floor," he said.

A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said they were called by the ambulance service at 3.45am and crews from Weymouth and Dorchester fire stations attended.

"The ambulance service was on scene and there was smoke coming out of the window of a room with a lady still inside.

"The fire was located in the flat and one casualty was rescued using breathing apparatus," the spokesman said.

Firefighters then extinguished the fire with a hose reel and further breathing apparatus.

A woman was taken to hospital suffering from minor burns and smoke inhalation.

Her condition is not life-threatening and police said no one else was injured.

Residents of the flat block said they were woken up some time before 4am to the ambulance service banging on the front door.

"The next thing we knew they were coming through the block telling everyone to get out," they said.

They added the building was evacuated.

Another resident said the incident had been 'quite frightening'.

"There are several children in the flats," one resident said. "It could have been so much worse."