Fire chiefs issued a safety warning after a woman in her 80s suffered severe burns while tackling a blaze.

She was cooking dinner at her home in The Crestway, Brighton, when a chip pan went up in flames.

She threw a wet cloth over the pan but then burned her arms, lips and face when she lifted it to put it in the garden.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "She did the right thing by putting a damp cloth over the pan but should have then turned off the stove, left the pan and called the fire brigade."