An overheated phone charger has been blamed for setting off a blaze in a block of flats in Haggerston last night.

A woman and two children fled the third floor flat in Whiston Road before firefighters arrived at 6.30pm, along with about 30 other people.

But two women had to be led to safety by fire crews wearing breathing apparatus.

It took 21 fire fighters an hour and a half to get the fire under control.

Half of the flat and part of the wooden cladding surrounding a window has been damaged.

A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said the most likely cause of the fire is believed to be a phone charger overheating on a bed.

He said: “Thankfully the mother and children quickly escaped the flat soon after noticing the fire in the bedroom.

“Phone batteries can get extremely hot.

“Unplugging appliances and chargers when you are not using them, or when you go to bed, helps reduce the risk of fire.”

Fire crews from Bethnal Green, Islington, Dowgate, and Shadwell fire stations attended the scene.