A family whose home was badly damaged in a "horrendous" fire have received thousands of pounds in donations after a community pulled together to help them.
Sarah Leverett and her husband Simon arrived at their home in Woodingdean on Thursday afternoon to discover the property was ablaze.
Their pets, including cats and dogs, died in the fire.
The family were too upset to speak but Sarah wrote on Facebook: "We are still processing what has happened and are in total shock. We lost our beloved pets in the fire."
Neighbours quickly rallied to help them, offering food, clothing and money to help them get back on their feet. Flowers have been placed outside the gutted property.
Shannon Boarer, who lives in Netherfield Green where the fire happened, said: "It's so devastating, it's horrendous. You just can't believe that something like that could have happened, so we wanted do do something that could help or raise awareness.
"We set up a GoFundMe to get the family some support. As a community, I'm amazed by what everyone has done."
The fundraiser collected £3,795 of its £5,000 target in less than 24 hours.
Louise said: "I put the £5,000 as a ballpark figure, and to see this much raised in such a short amount of time is absolutely amazing. To see that come through warms your heart.
"The family are so grateful, they are so overwhelmed."
Louise was picking up her children from school at the time of the fire and another parent told her there was a fire in Netherfield Green.
She said: "I didn't know what house. When I got back, there were people, fire engines, police, everything. You didn't know what was happening.
"My thoughts are just with their family.
"Everyone has been trying so hard to help. There are people working tirelessly to collect donations.
"They should be amazed with themselves. We won't take recognition or praise, we're not after that at all."
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service was called to the property at 3.10pm on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the service said: "Everyone who lived at the house was accounted for and there are no reports of people being injured. The exact cause of the fire has not been confirmed at this stage but it is being treated as accidental."
You can visit the GoFundMe campaign here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/sarah-and-simon
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