A woman has been arrested in connection with a suspected arson attack that saw eleven people evacuated from sheltered housing.

Firefighters were called to the property used as sheltered accommodation on Eastborne Road St Austell just before 1am, with six fire fighting appliances from St Austell, Mevagissey, Fowey, St Dennis and Lostwithiel attending.

When crews arrived they found a "ferocious and severe" fire in a first floor bedroom and were unsure whether all the residents had been accounted for.

Specialist appliances including an aerial adder platform from Truro, breathing apparatus support from Falmouth and an incident command unit from Launceston were also drafted in to help.

A fire and rescue service spokesman said that on arrival crews were met with a "well developed fire" in a two storey building used as sheltered accommodation.

Teams of four fire fighters wearing breathing apparatus using two main jets were used to battle the flames.

A full fire investigation found that arson was suspected and a woman has since been arrested.

While all residents are accounted for, they are unable to return to the water and smoke damaged property and are understood to have been relocated to another property in the area.