Police were called to a house in School Lane, Kettering, at about 6.50pm on Tuesday where the man suspected of starting the fire was living.

Houses in the town centre street were briefly evacuated while firefighters dealt with the blaze and police arrested the suspect.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police said: "We received reports that the man was armed with an axe at one point.

"Some armed officers were sent to the scene.

"We respond appropriately to the information we receive."

He was taken into custody in Corby on suspicion of causing arson.

Eyewitness described seeing a man, wielding an axe and what appeared to be an air rifle, preventing firefighters from extinguishing the flames, which had taken hold on the ground floor of the semi-detached house.

He eventually surrendered to police, and was then taken away in an ambulance.

One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: "There were definitely armed police there." A friend of the arrested man, who also wished to remain anonymous, said he was charred and sooty from being inside the burning house.

He said: "He was all black and there was smoke coming off him, and that was ten minutes after he had been out."

Brian O'Donovan, who lives next door, said he was unable to get to his house for some time on Tuesday night.

He said: "It was a bit of a surprise to see the street was full of police. I came back at about 7.30pm and the street was closed."

No-one else was injured in the fire, which caused severe damage to the downstairs front room. All of the ground floor windows were smashed.

The arrested man's friend said he was looking after the man's two dogs.

He said: "I am still shocked about it. This is Kettering – there's never a dull moment."

The 44-year-old will appear in Corby magistrates' Court today.