Fire crews were called in to help carry the body of a 30-stone man after he was found dead in his top floor flat.

Firefighters from Eastbourne were called to Essex Court, Rockhurst Drive, Eastbourne, at 5am today by police who were trying to lift the man downstairs to a waiting ambulance.

It took almost an hour to remove the man, who was taken to the Eastbourne District General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination was being carried out.