Fire fighters were called to sheltered accommodation to extinguish a chip pan fire that had got out of control.

The crew from Red Watch in Crawley Fire Station were called to the property in Horsham Road, Crawley, at about 8.15pm yesterday after being called by tenants.

It took fire fighters an hour and a half to tackle the blaze using four breathing apparatus.

The majority of the kitchen was damaged by smoke, with 25% of it severely damaged by fire.

Additionally, the adjoining dining room area was damaged by the smoke billowing from the unattended chip pan.

Crew commander Justin Bomyer said although the tenants did the right thing in throwing a fire blanket over the blaze, it could have been avoided had the cooking not been left unattended.

He said: "The fire started when whoever was cooking had become distracted.

"Our message is do not leave cooking unattended - that's massive.

"But they got everyone out of the building safely after throwing the blanket over it and were able to give us all the details we needed before entering, which was brilliant."