A Hindu prayer room at Ford Prison was damaged in a fire early today.

Fire crews from Littlehampton and Arundel were called out at 4.30am after staff at the open prison reported smoke coming from a single-storey building.

A Prison Service spokesman said the fire was not a racist or religiously prejudiced attack and caused only minor damage.

She said: "It was not racially-motivated and we do not believe it was arson. Nobody was injured."

West Sussex fire brigade said the building damaged by smoke and flames was a multi-denominational place of worship.

Prompt action by crews wearing breathing apparatus and the use of smoke extraction fans meant that the fire was confined to the room.

ADO David Howells, who attended the blaze, said: "The fire is not being treated as suspicious because it occurred in a locked room.

"Candles and joss sticks are in the area. The building is used for people to worship - there's a room for people of Islamic faith, a room for Hindus.

"In the Hindu room, there's a shrine where they use candles and joss sticks.

"At the moment we are treating this as an accidental ignition."

The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

Ford is an open prison which houses about 400 men.

Before being converted in 1960, it was a Fleet Air Arm station.

The prison stretches across a 114-acre site at Ford Road, near Arundel.

A West Sussex family had to put out a cooker fire which broke out in their kitchen last night.

Worthing firefighters were called to the blaze in Peveril Drive, Sompting, at 6pm but it had been extinguished by the time they arrived.

They ventilated the house to remove lingering smoke.