Man found dead after Brighton fire

Police and firefighters at the scene in Upper Bedford Street Police and firefighters at the scene in Upper Bedford Street

A man has died after a blaze ripped through a derelict building.

More than 40 firefighters have been tackling the incident in Upper Bedford Street and St George's Terrace, in Kemp Town, Brighton.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police confirmed a man's body was found.

She added the added the cause was not yet known.

A 48-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson and is currently in custody.

St George's Terrace is currently closed while investigations take place.

The cause of the fire, which broke out at 3.45am today (November 28), is currently unknown.

It is believed the building was a squat.

A spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue said: “We’re working with police to investigate. Some crew still remain at the scene.”

Do you have pictures of the incident? Did you witness the fire? Email news@theargus.co.uk or call 01273 544527. 

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Comments(7)

nosolution says...
11:10am Wed 28 Nov 12

The church building was used up until 2 or 3 years ago by a homeless charity who did the soup run on the seafront and free lunchtime meals,a fire broke out destroying parts of the building which caused the charity to move to a church up the road and it has been lying empty until squatters moved in around october..

wexler53 says...
12:18pm Wed 28 Nov 12

Who owns this building? Isn't this exactly the kind of site that should be redeveloped for housing? And shouldn't the council get involved instead of mucking up the town with useless and costly vanity projects?

Sorry to hear of this persons death. Another great example of "care in the community" I guess. Don't people like him deserve more?

wexler53 says...
12:19pm Wed 28 Nov 12

Who owns this building? Isn't this exactly the kind of site that should be redeveloped for housing? And shouldn't the council get involved instead of mucking up the town with useless and costly vanity projects?

Sorry to hear of this persons death. Another great example of "care in the community" I guess. Don't people like him deserve more?

clubrob6 says...
11:26pm Wed 28 Nov 12

Massive shortage of housing,yet numerous building lie empty surely it would be cost effective to bring these buildings back into use.I also thought a new law came in to stop sqatters.

jimthedoorman says...
9:27am Thu 29 Nov 12

The new squatters law only applies to commercial property. Residential is "fine" to squat in.
One of my jobs is to look after commercial properties that have been vacated to deter squatters. Generally these jobs last only a few weeks / months until the new tenants / business arrive.
It all depends on what the building is classified as before it is disused, as we saw with the building near Preston Circus earlier this year. The people in question were in the residential part of the building, not the commercial part. Although the Police did eventually evict them under the new, slightly grey area, of the law.
As a professional, I can see why it is unfeasible or even unaffordable for private tenants to employ people like me to look after their property.
It is sad to hear of a pointless death in this manner and hope that the council will pull their fingers out to make sure that either
a) These properties are adequately secured so only the owners can get in, or
b) Carry on doing nothing and when incidents like this happen, shrug their shoulders and call it an "unavoidale tragedy"

missy999 says...
6:27pm Thu 29 Nov 12

I know the man who died, he has 2 sons that have been left behind. And he was failed by the housing system and lack of resources out there for people in his situation. Some people have no options apart from squatting empty buildings. Its not always a life choice but a necessity sometimes to survive on the streets.

Tedious Pedant says...
6:14pm Thu 6 Dec 12

jimthedoorman wrote:
The new squatters law only applies to commercial property. Residential is "fine" to squat in.
One of my jobs is to look after commercial properties that have been vacated to deter squatters. Generally these jobs last only a few weeks / months until the new tenants / business arrive.
It all depends on what the building is classified as before it is disused, as we saw with the building near Preston Circus earlier this year. The people in question were in the residential part of the building, not the commercial part. Although the Police did eventually evict them under the new, slightly grey area, of the law.
As a professional, I can see why it is unfeasible or even unaffordable for private tenants to employ people like me to look after their property.
It is sad to hear of a pointless death in this manner and hope that the council will pull their fingers out to make sure that either
a) These properties are adequately secured so only the owners can get in, or
b) Carry on doing nothing and when incidents like this happen, shrug their shoulders and call it an "unavoidale tragedy"
I think you'll find the new squatters law only applies to residential property. Commercial is "fine" to squat in.

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