One man risked his life by climbing on to the West Pier at the height of the fire on Sunday morning.

He scaled the roof of the blazing concert hall to salvage what he described as priceless remnants of the structure.

The man was helped down and led away clutching one of the decorative stone orbs which sat on the roof's circumference.

Firefighters said he was lucky to be alive.

One said: "The roof could have collapsed at any moment or gone up in flames."

Crews handed the man over to police who arrested him on suspicion of theft.

Officers took him to patrol car and placed him in a back seat. He repeatedly pleaded with officers: "The firemen are not doing anything - I was trying to save it."

Police drove him away just after 3am. They took him some distance from the pier and released him without charge.

Minutes later, he hailed a taxi and was back at the scene.

The man, who gave his name as Abderrahman Elfami, said he was from Morocco and had been in Brighton for eight months.

He said he loved the pier and had not stolen the orb.

He wanted to save as much of the structure as possible for future generations.

Mr Elfami, 38, said: "People worked really hard to create and build it and everyone was just watching it burning. It was unbelievable, very sad."

He had been at a seafront club when the fire started.

He climbed from the beach on to the walkway on the east side and beyond the security gates.

He said: "I got inside and it was burning round me. The floor was on fire.

"I felt sad seeing the destruction and it was unfair of them to arrest me. I kept telling them all I was doing was trying to save some art work."

Mr Elfami, who lives in the city centre, described himself as a craftsman and said he made glass lamps for a living.

After returning to the pier, he vowed to climb on again to save artifacts but he was warned by pier security guards. One told him: "If you go on again, then I'll put the Alsatians on."

A fire brigade spokesman said Mr Elfami's action had briefly hampered and delayed their operation.

A spokesman said: "The building has collapsed in the past and it is highly unstable. He climbed on as the fire was at its worst. He is one lucky man."