A HIGH-RISE housing block was evacuated yesterday following the third fire in Southampton student accommodation in five days.

The 16-storey Mercury Point in Duke Street was evacuated after a fire ravaged a flat on the 11th floor.

It was the third time firefighters have been called to student accommodation in the city following two fires at Solent University’s Emily Davies building on Saturday.

No-one was in the student flat when the blaze broke out in the kitchen just before 4pm.

More than 25 firefighters from St Mary’s, Redbridge Hill and Hightown fire stations tackled the fire.

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As previously reported in the Daily Echo, fire crews were called to the Emily Davies building in Western Esplanade twice in five hours on Saturday to kitchen fires.

The cause of the latest fire was last night unknown and an investigation was underway.

A spokesman for Liberty Living, which owns Mercury Point, said the students had been rehoused.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue service last night issued a safety warning to students.

Station manager Stu Adamson said: “The damage was contained to one room by following the correct procedure of keeping fire doors closed. However, this could have resulted in a much more serious incident and I would like to take the opportunity to remind the students to act sensibly to protect themselves and their property. I also encourage parents and families of students that are living away from home to ensure that they aware of the fire risks and take steps to ensure they are kept safe.”

It was last night revealed that a fire which ripped through two houses in Southampton on Tuesday evening was caused by an electrical fault.

More than 40 firefighters were called to the scene after the blaze broke out in an upstairs room of a family’s traditional semi-detached house in Shaftesbury Avenue, Highfield.

The roof of the building then caught light and the fire swept across into the neighbouring house, made up of flats, also destroying its roof.

Yesterday officers from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service’s fire investigation team returned to the scene with the aerial ladder platform to assess the damage from above, while police officers made door-to-door calls.

The investigation concluded the fire was not suspicious.