A woman saved a Norfolk town's oldest building from going up in flames after spotting a fire before it got out of hand.

Paula Fowles was passing the Grade II Listed Dolphin House in Diss on Saturday morning (March 25) when she spotted smoke coming from the building.

She went inside Wildflower Records situated in the historic property to alert people inside, who then doused it in water but failed to put it out before calling the Norfolk Fire Service.

A crew from Diss attended the scene and used hose reel jets to extinguish the blaze. 

Ms Fowles, 54, said: "I was walking by and could smell burning and saw smoke.

"A part of the wooden structure was alight.

"The fire service came and made sure it was out. Afterwards, the fire chief said, 'you've just saved the oldest building in Diss'.

"It was lucky it happened on a busy Saturday rather than when no one was around.

"It could have been so much worse."

The landmark building was built in the 16th century and is a former merchant house and pub.