Four-hour search for woman in smoke-filled tunnel

A dramatic four-hour search was launched in a network of underground tunnels in the Black Country amid fears a woman was trapped after a fire broke out.

The blaze started in a Second World War air raid shelter that is connected to a winding 100-yard tunnel underneath woodland off Castle Mill Road in Dudley.

Fire crews scoured the area after it was reported a woman was stuck down there.

They borrowed a barge from the nearby Black Country Living Museum to search waterways below the tunnel, which join up with the canals. And a search dog was sent down a vertical shaft.

A man and woman found near the entrance of the shelter were treated for smoke inhalation.

A 31-year-old man from Dudley was arrested on suspicion of making false and malicious calls and was being questioned today.