A family narrowly escaped death when fire took hold of their home.

The Michaels escaped the blaze within minutes of part of their roof collapsing.

Mother Caroline Michael said: "We didn't think about our possessions at the time of the fire, only about getting everyone out of the house.

"But we later realised all our shoes, which were in the utility room where the fire started, had been burnt. The children couldn't go to school and we were stranded."

Mrs Michael risked her life to rescue two members of the family trapped in the fire, which started in the early on Monday morning.

She and her husband Andrew managed to escape with their four children, aged between five and 13, and rang the fire brigade.

But they could hear the screams of Mr Michael's 78-year-old mother in law and her nurse, who were trapped on the first floor with the pet dog Sammy.

Stavroulla Michael, who has a heart condition, was visiting the family with her nurse from their home in Cyprus.

Mrs Michael ran back into the burning building, in Roedean.

She dragged the two women and dog out of the building minutes before the roof over the utility room - their main escape route - collapsed.

Mrs Michael said: "I had no alternative. I just decided to go in and make a run for it.

"For a second I thought I might not make it out again. We were so lucky."