A MAN was sent to hospital after a fire broke out at a block of flats near the seafront.

Neighbours were alerted to the fire in Western Street just after 7am which spewed smoke all over Brighton seafront as groups gathered to watch the installation of giant metal rods at the nearby i360 site.

Charlie Hawley, 41, and her girlfriend Pip Harris, 53, were among the first to see the blaze and Ms Hawley said: “It was just before 7am and I’d snuck outside for a sneaky cigarette when I could smell the smoke.

“I looked around and spotted the flames in the top flat, but at that stage the windows hadn’t blown out or anything.

“So me and my girlfriend were running around in a blind panic screaming “fire” and going door to door to let everyone know and rang the fire brigade.

“I was rescued from a fire years ago in London, so it brought back a few memories when I was living in Kings Road, which is a bit weird seeing as this one happened just off Kings Road.”

Matt Lloyd, station commander for Hove and Roedean, was the incident commander yesterday morning and praised the hard work of the crew.

He said: “My major concern was that with the driving wind and the fire being in the roof there was a risk of it spreading.

“They worked incredibly hard and did really well to stop that spread and contain it to just that property.

“It was intense fire and they did remarkably well.”