The Palace Pier in Brighton was in the grip of a major blaze tonight. Massive flames could be seen for miles around.

Fire crews from two counties were called to fight the blaze, which comes only weeks after the collapse of the West Pier.

Witnesses saw the huge flames from the Sussex shoreline, reportedly as far away as Worthing. It is not yet known whether there are any casualties.

Lifeboats from Brighton and Shoreham were standing by as East and West Sussex fire crews battled the flames.

It started at 7.20pm, a Sussex Police spokesman said. The pier was immediately evacuated.

Kings Drive and Madeira Drive were closed to westbound traffic.

The police spokesman said: "We could see the fire on our CCTV cameras. It was big when it started and it is still alight.

"It is towards the sea end of the pier and as yet we do not how it started. We are expecting traffic congestion in the area as the A259 has been closed westbound."

Witness Nikki Inman said the scene looked "like Bonfire Night".

She said: "There are bits of it dropping into the sea.

"Because it's at the sea end you can't get fire engines on to the pier.

"They can only go so far up towards where the fire is ... it's about 500 metres in towards the sea.

"So what you have is the situation where you've got fire engines at the base end ... with fire crews running up probably with a long hose trying to quench it.

"Also you've got boats sitting round the base of it, spraying water up on to the deck."

Surveyor Bob Mitchell, who lives nearby, said smoke could be seen billowing from the far end of the structure.

He added: "Sparks seem to be falling through the floor which suggests that the timber decking of the pier is probably burning through."

More soon ...