Firefighters used a rescue stretcher to help a man who fell into a basement today.

The man, in his thirties, slipped as he was delivering crisps to the cellar of The Sussex pub in Kingsway, Hove.

Pub staff raised the alarm and an ambulance crew was sent to the scene. They feared the man's injuries could be more serious than they at first appeared.

Two fire crews and an aerial platform from Hove fire station were called in. A brigade spokesman said: "We don't think the gentleman was too seriously injured.

"But because of his position and the confined space he was in it was not possible to get him on to a stretcher and out of the basement easily.

"We put him into our rescue stretcher, which gives greater protection to casualties in this type of situation. "Once that was done it took us just a couple of minutes to lift him clear and get him into the ambulance."