RESIDENTS have told of the shocking moment their block of flats caught on fire in the middle of the night.

Firefighters rushed to a three-storey property on Chickerell Road after a fire ignited on the ground floor and “filled the hallways with black smoke”.

Emergency services are investigating the cause of the blaze, which started at around 11.30pm on Tuesday (August 2) and residents say “it’s incredibly lucky no-one was hurt”.

Christine, who lives in the block of flats, said: “I couldn’t get to sleep that night and all of a sudden we heard my neighbours fire alarm and instantly started to panic because I knew they weren’t in and that’s when we started to smell the smoke.

"You could see it in the hallway and, you know, for a second I thought we were gonners: it was frightening. There was thick black smoke covering the windows and we were frantically knocking on doors saying “get out, get out”.

Another resident said: “If this happened an hour later, when everyone was asleep, I really don’t think we’d have stood much of a chance. In a way it’s lucky that it happened when it did and the fire service, to be fair, were here straight away and did a really fantastic job.”

Christine added: “We all get along in the block so a lot of our first thoughts when we got out was sort of making sure everyone was out and safe: it could have ended an awful lot worse, it really could have done.”

As reported, firefighters from both Weymouth and Portland fire stations attended the incident and were at the scene for two hours.

Ambulance crews were also at the scene but the fire service confirmed there were no casualties.

Dorset Police are now working with the fire service to work out what caused the fire.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said: "Dorset Police was called by the fire service at 11.36pm on Tuesday 2 August 2022 to a report of a fire at an address in Chickerell Road in Weymouth.

"Officers attended to assist with road closures. Enquiries are underway with the fire service to establish the cause of the fire."

A spokesperson from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "We were called to a property on Chickerell Road at 11:30pm yesterday to attend a property fire.

"Four breathing apparatus wearers used two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire and their were no casualties.

"The stop message came in just after midnight and firefighters remained on scene until 1:30am."