A woman trapped in the back of her van was half way through telling firefighters where she was when her phone died.

A fire crew from Brighton Fire Station spent 30 minutes searching the city's streets for the vehicle after she made the 999 call at 10.15am yesterday.

One firefighter said: "We were able to trace the signal to the Kemp Town area but could not narrow it down completely."

They eventually found the van, which had a faulty roller door, in Marine Drive, near Rottingdean.

The woman, who was around 30, had been trying to unload some goods when she got trapped.

The firefighter said: "It would be fair to say she was very happy when she saw us. I'm not sure whether she expected us to find her or not."