Firefighters broke their picket line to tackle a blaze which destroyed a video shop and risked the lives of neighbours.

Two crews from Bexhill, which has both full-time and retained crews, called a halt to industrial action when they heard the extent of the fire in Devonshire Road, Bexhill.

The alarm was raised at 4am today and four Green Goddess manned by military crews from Hastings and Eastbourne also attended.

About 15 residents from 26 flats above the shop are believed to have fled the flames and were being housed in temporary accommodation.

One person was led to safety by firefighters from the five-storey building and received medical attention.

Plastic casing around windows had melted in the extreme heat and glass panes were smashed.

Leading Firefighter Grahame Hobden said firefighters offered 24-cover during strike action for fires where lives were immediately at risk.

He said: "When we arrived there was a Green Goddess crew already there but they weren't doing any firefighting.

"It was a ferocious fire, which was at the point of involving the flats above and had started breaking the windows in the flats."

He said the Bexhill crew worked with the stand-in firefighters to bring the blaze under control.

A Green Goddess crew from Hastings returned to the scene at 6.30am to dampen down areas of the gutted shop, which was still smouldering.

Flames scorched neighbouring shops, jewellers EH Warford and the Mind charity shop.

The road remained closed to traffic this morning as a fire investigation team and scenes of crime officers collected evidence to find out how the blaze started.

It is the second major fire in the area during the fire strikes.

In November, George's Pet Supplies, in nearby Sackville Road, was gutted by arsonists. Four Green Goddesses from Hastings and Bexhill also attended the scene and battled to save the shop and animals.