All of the families living in the Norwich tower block which caught fire this week have had to move out of their homes temporarily while the building is repaired.

All the families living in the Norwich tower block which caught fire this week have had to temporarily move out of their homes.

About 80 firefighters were called to deal with Monday's fire at Markham Tower, in Bowers Avenue, Mile Cross.

The fire in the 10-storey Norwich City Council-owned building started in an eighth-floor flat at about 11.20am on Monday. Nobody was hurt in the blaze and firefighters have said the fire is currently not being treated as suspicious.

Today the building - which houses 44 flats - stood empty with security guarding the site.

Nineteen of the affected households have been moved into temporary accommodation and the others have gone to stay with friends or relatives.

Brenda Arthur, Norwich City Council leader, said: 'We would like to put our thanks on record to our staff, tenants, firefighters and the police for all their help in making sure the evacuation process was carried out as smoothly as possible. Everyone rallied round and did a fantastic job.

'We've now moved into the recovery stage following the fire - in which, thankfully, no-one was hurt. This involves making sure the building is safe before any of our tenants set foot inside. Their safety is of paramount importance and we're doing all we can to make their transition from staying in temporary accommodation to returning home as painless as possible. So we're urging everyone to just bear with us as best they can while we go about our work as quickly and efficiently as possible.'

The city council said one flat is badly damaged by fire and at least 10 flats have water damage. Due to the amount of water Firefighters needed to use to put out the fire, EDF Energy has also had to cut the whole building's electricity supply. The council is also investigating if burst heating pipes are contributing to the problem of water in the building.

Council officers were on site today to further assess the damage and begin the process of drying out the building before power can be restored. The extent of the damage will determine when people can return to their flats, and today people have been given access to collect any possessions they need.

• Norwich-based Future Radio's FM signal - 107.8 - was today off-air because its transmitter on top of Markham Tower was without power due to the fire. Station manager Terry Lee said Future hoped to resolve the problem as soon as possible, and said people could still listen to Future Radio's shows online at www.futureradio.co.uk/listenlive

• Have you been affected by the fire? Call reporter Emma Knights on 01603 772428 or email emma.knights@archant.co.uk