Fifty firefighters attend blaze at high rise building in Birmingham city centre

A fire has broken out at the Orion building in Birmingham city centre on Saturday afternoon.

West Midlands Fire Service said fifty of its firefighters were in attendance, along with seven trucks, as they seek to control the fire.

Firefighters say they have rescued an adult and a young child from one flat, and another adult from a second flat.

It's not clear what started the incident, which began just before six on Saturday evening.

In a further statement, the fire service said the fire had been contained to the flat in which it started, and confirmed to have extinguished it by just after 7.30pm.

Around a dozen people were rescued by firefighters, some of whom were given special escape hoods to wear to help them breathe.

One person is understood to have been taken to hospital by ambulance, suffering from the effects of smoke.