A WOMAN has been arrested and bailed following a suspicious fire in Colchester.

Police are investigating the blaze in Barrack Street involving a heavily pregnant woman who had to be saved twice.

Officers questioned a 24-year-old on suspicion of criminal damage and she was bailed until September 29 this afternoon.

Fire crews were called at about 6.30pm on Monday after neighbours saw flames and smoke coming out of the ground floor flat.

Dilshad Bashir, manager of Zara’s Fish Bar, smashed down her door with a fire extinguisher to save her.

He got her out, but witnesses reported she went running back inside.

A spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: “The fire service received the 999 call reporting a fire in a terraced house.

“When firefighters arrived, they found the whole of the ground floor was on fire and heavily smoke logged.

“A woman, who was heavily pregnant, was seen at the window on the first floor of the property.

“Crews quickly pitched a ladder to the window and helped her escape the property.

“Firefighters then entered the property and to make sure no-one else was in the house.

“They had searched the property and then set about extinguishing the fire using a hose reel jet.”

Crews administered oxygen therapy before paramedics treated the woman and hero Mr Bashir.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said they treated a man and a woman for smoke inhalation and both were taken to Colchester General Hospital for further care.

Fire and police investigators were called to the now boarded up and uninhabitable home to try and work out what happened.

Residents reported a disturbance taking place earlier in the evening at the property which was then seen to be on fire about an hour later.

The investigation into the cause of the blaze continues.