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Nine adults and nine children have been rescued after a fire in a two-storey block of flats in Perth.

Scottish Fire and Rescue said crews were called to the incident in Rannoch Road at about 03:26.

The building was evacuated and those rescued were given precautionary checks by ambulance crews.

It is thought the fire, which was in the common close, may have been started deliberately. Police are treating the incident as suspicious.

A Police Scotland spokesman said a joint investigation would be carried out by police and the fire service.

The blaze was extinguished by 04:14.