Pensioner dies following Old Buckenham fire

A elderly woman has died following a house fire in Old Buckenham.

The fire happened at about 11.50pm last night at a property in Church Lane.

Firefighters rescued the woman - who lived alone - from the property but she later died in hospital.

Residents at a neighbouring attached property were evacuated from their home during the blaze.

A Norfolk Police spokesman said: 'The elderly resident, aged in her 80s, was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for treatment but sadly died as a result of the incident.'

'The incident is not being treated as suspicious and police and fire investigators will return to the address later this morning to establish the cause of the fire.'

Fire crews from Attleborough, East Harling and Wymondham attended the scene, and firefighters were at the property until nearly 3am.

Fire investigators are set to return to the scene later today.

Stuart Horth, head of community safety at Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: 'We rescued an elderly lady and were assisted by the ambulance service. Unfortunately and tragically the lady died subsequent to the scene. It was a very challenging fire for our fire crews. They did an excellent job under very intense circumstances.'

See tomorrow's paper for more.