A MAN has told of his terror after being rescued from the roof of a burning hotel.

Fisherman Matt Smith said he did not hear the “quiet” smoke alarm in his room at the Royal Albion in Brighton – and suddenly found he was trapped in the burning building.

Police are treating Sunday evening’s blaze on the fifth floor of the seafront hotel as suspected arson.

Mr Smith was taking a shower in his room when the fire broke out.

He said: “The smoke alarm in my room started beeping very gently, it didn’t sound like an alarm.

“It beeped for three times and stopped for five minutes.

“I just thought it was nothing.

“I thought I’d speak to reception”

“I need to make an official complaint, it didn’t alert me.

“If the alarm was louder I’d have got out.

“But I was in the shower for 20 minutes probably.”

When he did come out, the fire had taken hold and he could not escape.

He said: “I opened the door of my room and I was walloped in the face with tons and tons of black smoke.

“The smoke hit me in the face.

“I could smell burning plastic and I could feel the heat so I knew the fire was close.”

“I thought I was going to pass out. I was absolutely terrified.”

The 26-year-old grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to make his way down the corridor but was unable to make any headway because the lights were out and the smoke was choking him.

Mr Smith, from Peacehaven, was staying in the hotel for a week with his fiancee Amy Brand, who he proposed to in the hotel on Saturday.

She was not in the hotel at the time of the fire and he said she was “all he could think about” as he crawled on the floor along the corridor to try to stay below the smoke.

When he realised he could not escape through the building he returned to his bedroom and clambered out through the window on to a roof space.

He was relieved when firefighters appeared on an aerial ladder platform to rescue him.

Mr Smith was treated for smoke inhalation at the Royal Sussex County Hospital but was not seriously injured.

Eight fire engines, along with Sussex Police and the South East Coast Ambulance service attended the fire, which started just after 7pm on Sunday.

The road around Steine Gardens was closed and police blocked traffic approaching the site from along the A259.

A statement from East Sussex Fire and Rescue said yesterday: “A fire investigation has taken place today and it is believed the fire was started deliberately.”

Sussex Police told The Argus: “The fire is being treated as deliberate and we are investigating.

“Any witnesses or anyone with information should contact police by emailing 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting serial 1243 of 04/06. “

The Royal Albion Hotel declined to comment.