Two crews from Wisbech were called to the blaze on St Michael's Avenue at 7.33pm. They arrived just six minutes later to discover smoke coming from the flat.

Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the flat to discover a fire in the bedroom and they were able to quickly extinguish the blaze using one hose reel.

However, there was substantial damage to the bedroom and significant smoke damage to the hallway. There was also light smoke damage in other rooms.

There was no one in the flat at the time of the fire. A full fire investigation will be carried out, but it is believed the fire was started deliberately.

A smoke alarm was heard to be activating, but it was found in a cupboard.

Watch Manager, Mick Stebbings, said: "Having a working smoke alarm fitted in the correct place on the ceiling is really important as it provides an early warning to people in the home that there is a fire and it could prove life saving.

"When people are not at home, a smoke alarm is often heard by neighbours who contact the fire service which means that we can attended and deal with the fire before it has chance to spread unnoticed."