A rock band manager had to push his girlfriend from a first-floor window as fire tore through their home.

Mark Turner, who manages Rolling Stones tribute band the Railing Stains, smashed a bedroom window with his arm and saw his partner Fiona Beck plunge 12ft to the ground.

He followed her out and leaped to safety before flames engulfed their home early today.

Mr Turner, 41, suffered cuts and Miss Beck, 34, sustained back injuries and was detained in hospital.

Mr Turner said there was no alternative but to jump: "I had to push Fiona out but there was no other way. It saved our lives."

Flames tore through the house in Carden Crescent, Brighton, shortly after 2am.

Thirty firefighters from Brighton and Hove tackled the blaze which gutted the semi-detached house.

One officer escaped injury when a burning mattress fell on him.

Smoke caused the evacuation of some buildings on the nearby Hollingbury Industrial Estate.

Mr Turner, nursing cuts to his right arm, said his partner first detected the fire in a spare room close to their bedroom where they were sleeping.

He said: "She woke me and said something was wrong. Within two minutes I had broken the window. The heat, smoke and flames were intense.

"I pushed Fiona out and was going to do something to fight the fire but I got scared and jumped after her."

Mr Turner was also taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, but was released after treatment.

Firefighters rescued the couple's cat and stopped the flames spreading but the house was gutted.

The fire is thought to have started after an electrical fault in a computer.

Members of the band today visited their manager to offer help.