Firefighters spent seven hours battling a blaze which engulfed a building and threatened to destroy nearby homes.

About 50 crew members were drafted in just before 5pm on Saturday to tackle the fire in Whitley Road, Eastbourne.

The two-storey building, which appeared derelict but could have been used as storage units, was eventually destroyed in what investigators believe may have been an arson attack.

Appliances from Eastbourne were the first to arrive on the scene and firefighters discovered the top floor was on fire.

Another ten appliances were sent from stations across East Sussex, including Hailsham, Bexhill, Herstmonceux and Lewes, as firefighters fought to bring the blaze under control.

Eastbourne leading fire fighter Matt Harrison said: "When we got there we couldn't get anywhere near the fire because of the unsafe structure around it.

"The roof and walls on part of the second storey had collapsed so we had to pull down a lot of the building to make it safe for us to work.

"We finally managed to get it under control just before 7.30pm. The building was next to a block of flats and was just ten metres away from a house.

"No-one was evacuated but there was a real concern if the fire spread any further we would have had to alert the residents."

Firefighters remained in Eastbourne until midnight and returned to the site again yesterday morning.

Investigation teams are working with police to identify the cause of the blaze.

Leading Firefighter Harrison said: "The whole area will have to be completely demolished and the incident is being treated as suspicious."