Police are working with Avon Fire and Rescue Service to investigate the cause of a fire which led to the evacuation of around twenty homes in Bath on Tuesday, 21st January.

The alarm was raised at about 11 p.m. at Phoenix House, Northampton Street. The fire affected the stairwell of the five-storey block of flats, causing smoke damage to communal areas.

St Mary’s Catholic Church and the British Red Cross assisted by providing shelter to the displaced residents. Bath and North East Somerset Council officers provided welfare support to residents affected by the fire. The council has temporarily rehoused two people and will continue to provide support for them. Thankfully, no one appears to have been injured.

Fire investigators and police Crime Scene Investigators made an examination of the building on Wednesday, 22nd January, while police carry out house-to-house and CCTV enquiries.

If you have any information which could help to establish the cause of the fire, get in touch with police through: www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact, or call 101, quoting reference: 5220016666.