Blaze drama causes evacuation

Up to 30 people had to be evacuated from a smoke-filled high rise block of flats in the Black Country after a fire started in a rubbish chute.

Firefighters led tenants to safety from the 15-storey St Giles Court in Reservoir Road, Rowley Regis, yesterday. Others had already left the building by the time crews arrived.

Several people were treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics at the scene.

The fire began after carpets in the chute caught fire and smoke seeped into a number of the flats. It is not yet known whether the fire at around 6.30pm was started deliberately.

The blaze was put out and once the smoke had cleared residents were allowed back into their homes around an hour after the fire started.

West Midlands Fire Service spokeswoman Sarah Walsh said: "There was a fire confined to a refuse chute at the building with 15 floors. Four firefighters using breathing apparatus went inside and several people were led out with mild smoke inhalation."

Meanwhile, a family pub in the Stirchley area of Birmingham was destroyed in a blaze in the early hours today.

The Lifford Curve in Fordhouse Lane, off Pershore Road, was gutted by the fire which started at around 3.17am.

Up to 63 firefighters from across the West Midlands were called out to tackle the fire.