A man fled his burning bedroom, but not before rescuing his pet tortoise.

He fell asleep with a candle alight on a window ledge of the top-floor flat in Beach Road, Eastbourne, and woke to find his bedroom full of smoke with flames licking the window.

Firefighters from Eastbourne were called to the blaze which badly damaged the bedroom at 7.55am yesterday, The man was found unhurt, still clutching his pet.

Station officer Paul Sundaram-Hardwicke said: "He had a lucky escape.

"We go to quite a few fires caused by candles.

"People should make sure they are properly put out before they go to sleep."