Fire officials have issued a warning after an elderly woman twice re-entered her East Sussex home as fire raged inside.

The pensioner, in her 70s, was taken to hospital for treatment to burns and the effects of smoke after fire broke out in the lounge of her bungalow.

As the room in Glynleigh Drive, Polegate, became engulfed by flames the woman twice re-entered her home in a bid to douse the flames with water and a sheet.

Firefighters from Hailsham and Pevensey tackled the blaze at 7pm on Friday but the room was left gutted. The woman was taken to Eastbourne District General Hospital but escaped serious injury.

However, fire officials later said there was no battery in her smoke alarm, rendering it useless.

Hailsham-based station officer Roger Easey urged people not to re-enter burning properties and to dial 999 and wait for fire crews to arrive.

He called on homeowners to regularly test their smoke alarms to ensure batteries were fitted and working properly.

Contractors had to be called in to board up the living room windows, which had disintegrated under the intense heat.