A hospital fire is believed to have been started deliberately.

Firefighters attended Eastbourne District General Hospital yesterday after a fire alarm was activated at 6.40pm.

The alarm had been set off in a computer suite but when they arrived firefighters found a fire raging inside a locked clinical waste room.

The entire lower ground floor was smoke logged. Crews used breathing apparatus to enter the building and bring the fire under control.

The cause of the fire is now being investigated by Sussex Police and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.