A man fell through a pavement after the ground collapsed beneath his feet.

Andi Barr, 43, was only steps from the front door of his shop when the concrete forecourt gave way, plunging him into a 4ft hole.

His wife Roslyn, said: "He just disappeared and I thought he had fallen so I ran out and found him up to his chest in a huge hole.

"I panicked because I thought the whole front of the shop could drop."

Mr Barr tried to climb out of the hole but was stopped by a pain in his leg.

A first-aider was walking past the shop in Portland Road, Hove, and stopped to help.

Mrs Barr said: "He just came out of nowhere and got in the hole with Andi to make sure he was all right.

"He checked to make sure his leg wasn't broken then helped him out of the hole.

"He was gone by the time the ambulance arrived and I didn't get a chance to say thank you."

Father-of-two Mr Barr was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital for X-rays and tests but was later released.

He suffered severe grazing to his right shin.

Mr Barr said: "There weren't any warning cracks or anything.

"It just gave way. There are a lot of elderly people and children around here and it doesn't bear thinking about what injuries they would have got if it had happened to them."

A building control inspector from Brighton and Hove City Council declared the area safe but barriers have been put up around the 6ft-long hole.

The Barrs, who have owned the Creative Talents craft shop for five years, are trying to discover who is responsible for the forecourt.

The hole has revealed a hollow space beneath the concrete which may have previously been used as a basement.

The council has told the Barrs the land is private and not its responsibility.