A 38-YEAR-OLD man is seriously ill in hospital after being rescued from a flat fire,

Firefighters rescued the man from the two-bedroom flat in Normanby, Middlesbrough and he was taken to James Cook University Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation on Saturday.

Reports of a disturbance at a flat in Cornfields House, Barley Hill Close were made to police at about 5.25pm and when officers arrived they saw smoke from the dwelling and called Cleveland Fire Brigade.

Neighbours living in the flats were also evacuated by police. Firefighters had the fire under control within 15 minutes and retrieved the man from the flat.

Police are investigating with the fire forensics team to try and establish how the fire started.