A fire which swept through a family home is believed to have been started by children playing with matches in their bedroom.

Flames engulfed the first floor and roof of a terraced house in The Maples, Cuckfield Road, Hurstpierpoint.

The mother and her two children escaped unharmed. The fire started in a bedroom at the back of the building before devouring the roof and spreading to the house next door.

Firefighters caught the blaze as it began to create a hole in the roof. Nobody was injured in either house, but a tabby cat next door was overcome by smoke and had to be carried to a Red Cross first aid van for treatment.

Assistant divisional officer Mark Fisher was one of the first fire officers on the scene. He said: "The fire started in the first-floor bedroom. We believe it was children with matches who started it but this is being investigated.

"We evacuated a mother and two children from the house and the people from the terraces on either side.

"Fire came out of the back bedroom window and hit the eaves and went into next door."

The charred remains of furniture and clothes were strewn in the front gardens.