People were trapped in their homes this morning as floodwater turned part of a Brighton suburb into a lake.

Bevendean in east Brighton was the worst-hit part of town and water cascaded into lounges and kitchens.

Four feet of water swamped Leybourne Road and firefighters gave up trying to pump water away because there was nowhere to redirect it.

Leading Firefighter Tom Smith was among a team struggling to cope in the street. He said: "It was a once-in-100-years storm. It was overwhelming.

"We were pumping into a drain until it blew a manhole cover off. We had to stop to avoid flooding Bevendean School.

"A makeshift dam in Bodiam Close burst and sent a torrent of water down Heathfield Avenue into Leybourne Road.

"It was phenomenal, and extremely frustrating because there wasn't much we could do to save homes. People were in tears ... they are devastated."

Two men stranded in a Forfars lorry in Bevendean had to swim to safety.

Firefighters knocked on Trudi Jupp's door at 3am after her house was swamped by 4ft of water.

Ms Jupp, who was with her husband and two sons, 19 and 21, in the house, said: "We got everything we could upstairs but the television, our suite and all the appliances are still down there.

"We have lived here 21 years and have never seen anything like it - we're up to the waist downstairs."

John Mack, landlord of the White Admiral pub, said his pub would be closed for weeks because everything was under water.

Other areas flooded included Hove and Southwick. In Hove, blocked drains flooded large parts of New Church Road, making conditions difficult for pedestrians, motorists and people waiting at bus stops.

Heavy rain also flooded Wish Park in Wish Road and many of the seafront lawns in Hove, including the bowling greens.

In Brighton the Royal Albion Hotel, recently opened after a major fire, suffered flood damage.

Parts of Patcham and Woodingdean were also under water and the gyratory in Lewes Road was flooded. The Saltdean Lido swimming pool overflowed.

Tomorrow's meeting at Brighton racecourse has been cancelled and the main rail line between Brighton and London was closed this morning.

One monitoring station at Barcombe, near Lewes, recorded 123mm (4.8in) of rain in the 24 hours until 7am.

Schools closed included Bevendean School.

Argus weatherman Ken Woodhams recorded almost 3in of rain overnight, just short of the average for the whole of October.

He said Sussex was heading for the same kind of rainfall that preceded the disaster of 1987, when soft ground and hurricane force winds flattened trees and homes. He said: "This is a bad omen."