An elderly man died last night in a fire at his seaside flat.

The victim, in his 70s, was rescued by firefighters from his first-floor property in Church Road, St Leonards, but died at the scene.

The alarm was raised by a neighbour at 9.30pm after they spotted dense acrid smoke coming from the five-storey terraced building.

A family living above the victim had to walk across the rooftop to a neighbouring flat as smoke and heat filled the staircase.

A smoke alarm had been fitted near the victim's flat but contained no batteries.

Sub-officer Kevin Hayward, of Bohemia fire station's Green Watch, said: "As we are so close to the scene, we would normally have had a maximum opportunity to reach the victim in time. But because, we believe, the fire had been burning for some time before we were alerted that opportunity was lost."

The flat where the victim lived alone was severely smoke-logged.

Neighbours in flats below got out before firefighters arrived.

Part of Church Road was cordoned off for several hours as fire and police investigators carried out inquiries.

They returned today but said it was too early to determine a cause.

Detective Sergeant Mike Ashcroft, of Hastings CID, said a post-mortem on the victim was expected later today. Efforts to trace his next of kin were still being made and fire investigators, scenes of crime officers and forensic science service investigators were carrying out inquiries.

Church Road, between Bohemia Road and Warrior Square, mostly consists of bedsits and flats.

It is just minutes away from Bohemia fire station whose crews were joined by those from The Ridge.