Man dies in house fire

A man has died after a house fire in Norwich, police have confirmed.

Norfolk police said a man in his 50s had died in the fire at a bungalow at Langley Walk, off Old Palace Road in Norwich, on Tuesday (February 2) night.

Fire crews from Earlham, Carrow and Sprowston, had been called to tackle the fire at shortly before 9.30pm.

The man's body was found inside the bungalow and Norfolk police were called.

Norfolk police said his death was being treated as unexplained at this time,

Investigations into the circumstances which led to the blaze and the man's death are continuing.

Two police officers were at the scene of the fire on Wednesday morning.

There was a blue and white police tape cordon outside the front of the single-storey 1970s bungalow.

A Norfolk Fire and Rescue spokesman said last night: "Crews wore breathing apparatus and used main jets and hose reel jets to extinguish the fire.

"A thermal imaging camera was used to check for hot spots."

Fire crews had left the scene at 10.40pm last night.

Temporary road closures were put in place on nearby Russell Street, while emergency services worked at the scene.

Former Norwich city councillor Dawn Castle-Green, who lives nearby, said she was sorry to hear the man had died.

She said: "I didn't know the man's name, but I would see him when I was walking my dog.

"I think he'd lived there for five or six years. He was always pleasant."

Her husband Ron said the pair had realised something was happening when they noticed blue lights through their window.

He said: "I'd gone out at about 10pm because there were all these blue flashing lights.

"There must have been about a dozen vehicles - fire engines, a large ambulance and police cars.

"They stretched as far as the eye could see down Old Palace Road.

"I went down Langley Walk at midnight and there was a policeman stood there and men in white suits from the forensics team."