Firefighters have praised a teenager for tackling a blaze in his neighbour's house with a fire extinguisher.

The fire in the house in Chyngton Close, Eastbourne, started yesterday evening when a lit candle on a windowsill in the front room set the net curtains alight.

The terrified female householder fled out into the street with her sister and daughters, aged 11 and 12, to escape the blaze.

When 17-year-old neighbour Scott Dean realised what was happening, he fetched a fire extingisher and ran into the house to tackle the flames.

By the time fire crews got to the scene, he had managed to put out the fire and stop it from spreading to other rooms in the house.

Mr Dean, who is a student at Eastbourne College of Art and technology, was talking to a friend at the end of the road when he realised his neighbour's house was on fire.

He said: "I saw it was the house next door and just sprinted towards it. The family had brought the fire extinguisher out but they were panicking and could not get it to work because they were scared.

"I did not think about anything and I just went in. The smoke was thick, my eyes were watering and I couldn't breathe.

"I put out the flames as quickly as I could and then went outside."

My Dean, who is trained to think on his feet as part of his preparation for armed services course at ECAT, returned to the scene of the fire twice more to check the flames were out.

He used a damp tea towel over his face to avoid breathing in too much smoke.

He said: "I wasn't scared at the time but now it is all over I keep thinking about it."

The teenager was taken to hospital suffering the effects of smoke inhalation but was not kept in for treatment.

Mr Dean, who has proved he can stay calm in a crisis, is now considering a career in the fire service.

A spokesman from the fire brigade said: "Obviously we would always advise people to leave it to us and not put themselves in danger. Having said that, this lad was very brave and prevented the house from any further damage. He did a good job."