The parents of a toddler saved from a blazing block of flats by neighbours in a suspected arson attack said today: "We owe them our lives."

People were trapped inside their homes when fire broke out in the ground-floor hallway of the two-storey block on Saturday night.

Neighbours Andreas Demetriou and Lawrence Ledbetter saw smoke billowing from the property and banged on the ground-floor windows in a desperate attempt to wake the occupants.

They then used a ladder to rescue two families from their smoke-logged first-floor flats in Meadowside, Storrington.

Among those trapped was two-year-old Luke Rutherford, who was asleep when the fire started.

His mother Pam, 36 and father Derek, 44, were alerted by the screams of their neighbours. Within minutes, smoke was pouring through their front door.

They grabbed Luke from his cot, ran into their lounge and saw Mr Ledbetter climbing a ladder to their window.

Luke was passed down to him and his parents followed.

Mr Demetriou said: "Lawrence noticed the smoke and told me to call 999. By the time I got outside, smoke was pouring out of the building and people were knocking on windows to alert people to get out of their flats.

"Lawrence put up the ladder and rescued Luke. It was very dramatic, as we could see flames coming out of the building, but mostly there was lots of black smoke."

Mrs Rutherford said at one stage she became hysterical, seeing no way out.

She said: "It was difficult to breathe and all I kept thinking about was whether or not Luke was okay."

Mr Rutherford added: "We are all just so grateful to our neighbours. Without them, who knows what would have happened. I want to say a very big thank-you to both of them."

Mr Ledbetter and Mr Demetriou also used the ladder to save a couple and their young daughter from the second first-floor flat.

Ten people were inside the four flats affected by the fire and all of them escaped.

Among them was 76-year-old Doris Porter, who spent the night in Worthing Hospital after suffering breathing difficulties.

Firefighters had put out the blaze by 10.30pm. Police said the incident was being treated as suspicious.

A family had a lucky escape when fire broke out in a children's bedroom.

A disconnected smoke alarm in a flat in Butts Road, Southwick, left the family unaware that the room was ablaze.

Firefighters were called to the flat at 7.20pm when a child noticed smoke coming from the bedroom.

The four adults and three children got out of the flat before it became smoke-logged.