An East Sussex couple have been forced into temporary accommodation after their flat was badly damaged by a suspicious blaze last night.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire at Clement Hill Road, Hastings.

Its occupants returned home just before midnight to find flames and smoke belching from their ground-floor flat.

Fire chiefs said the blaze took hold in the bedroom and causing extensive damage to the two-storey property, which is owned by the 1066 Housing Association.

Up to ten firefighters from Bohemia and Ridge fire stations brought the fire under control within ten minutes.

However, the damage was so severe that the occupants have not been able to return. No one was in the flat above.

The property remained sealed off this morning as scene of crime officers and fire investigators sifted the remains for clues.

A brigade spokesman said: "It's being treated as suspicious at this stage. What caused the fire is still under investigation but we know it started in the bedroom.

"There was considerable smoke and heat damage to the whole of the flat. However, luckily no one was in at the time."