Sudbury fire: Hamster found alive five days after blaze Published duration 11 September 2015

image copyright Karen Jackson image caption The hamster's cage was left by the window the couple escaped through (circled in the picture)

A hamster has been found alive in a flat that was destroyed in a fire five days ago.

The flat was at the back of an 18th Century building on Market Hill in Sudbury, Suffolk which went up in flames on Sunday.

Karen Jackson had to leave the cage, containing Honey the hamster, in the flat and escape through the kitchen window with her fiance.

Engineers have been back in for the first time and emerged with the cage.

image copyright Suffolk County Council image caption More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at the building on Market Hill which housed a nail parlour, Oxfam store and residential flats

Ms Jackson, 52, who works for local firm Delphi, said: "I really thought I'd lost her. I'm still blown away. I can't believe it.

"We had to leave in a matter of minutes and the only way out was the kitchen window, but the cage was too big so I just quickly covered it in a coat and left it by the window and hoped for the best.

"She probably just carried on being a hamster - eating and drinking and playing on her wheel - not knowing what was going on."

image caption The couple's flat on Gainsborough Street was at the back of the the Market Hill building which caught fire

Ms Jackson and her partner Gary Naven, 49, were among a group of 20 people made homeless by the fire and they are staying in emergency accommodation provided by Babergh District Council.

They were renting the flat in Gainsborough Street and will now look for another place to live.

Ms Jackson's birthday was on Tuesday and Mr Naven said his birthday present to her had also been recovered unscathed from the building.

Market Hill remains closed to traffic as engineers make the affected buildings safe and Suffolk Fire Service investigates the cause