A bedroom was destroyed by fire after a candle on a birthday cake fell over and started a blaze.

The alarm was raised at 10am on Saturday morning after the owner of the house in Osborne Road, Eastbourne, saw flames coming from his bedroom.

The quick-thinking man closed the door and put a wet towel along the bottom to stop the blaze spreading, before taking his family outside.

It is believed the fire started when the couple's five-year-old daughter lit a candle on the birthday cake for her father and then left it in the bedroom unattended.

Firefighters took less than an hour to deal with the blaze in the detached house which left the room completely gutted.

A spokesman from the fire service said: "Although this was an accident which could have been avoided, we would praise the actions of the house owner.

"He took sensible steps to contain the fire and then quickly evacuated his family. If he hadn't done what he did this could have been a different story."