Police have launched an investigation after a firefighter was shot in the leg as she helped tackle a blaze.

The fire started at a series of timber outbuildings near the Europa Hotel, Balcombe Road, Crawley. Fire crews had put out the flames and were damping down when the woman was hit by the pellet fired from an air rifle at 11.30pm on Friday.

Protective padding stopped the pellet from causing any serious injury and the part-time firefighter did not require hospital treatment. Crawley Fire Station and police are carrying out their own investigations into the incident.

They believe the shot was fired from a housing estate opposite the scene of the fire but when police arrived they could not find the culprit.

Roger Wood, Station Commander at Crawley Fire Station, said: "My patrol had just left the scene when we had a call to return saying firefighters had been shot at. Thankfully it was not that serious, but a series of shots were fired at vehicles and crew. We get used to being in a lot of unusual situations in this job but we don't expect to be shot at."

Before the shooting, fire crews spent more than two hours trying to control the blaze, which spread to a diesel tank. Their attempts were hampered when electric pylons collapsed and had to be cleared before they could continue. The cause of the fire, which left the buildings badly damaged, is also being investigated.