A skateboarder who tried to jump the gap between two buildings broke his ankle and had to be rescued by Eastbourne firefighters.

The 23-year-old was lowered to safety on the end of a rope after the bungled stunt on the empty Southern Water building in Upperton Road, Eastbourne.

Fire brigade Sub Officer Kevin Sharpe said: "He was jumping from one roof to another at the building, which is about 14ft high.

"There was a 3ft gap between them and he hurt himself jumping down about 2ft on his skateboard."

A waiting ambulance crew took the injured man to Eastbourne District General Hospital at about 10.30pm.

Mr Sharpe said: "There was a group of about half a dozen up there and they had climbed up the back of the building and were jumping on their skateboards. He just fell badly."

Inspector Tim Mottram, of Eastbourne police, said the station received at least one call every night from a member of the public complaining about skateboarders.

He said: "We have this low level of tolerance and people do not like to see them out after dark. They do not cause many problems because the area is not residential but we regularly get calls.

"But skateboarding on roofs is not advisable. If you make just one mistake you could perish. It is a very high building and he was lucky not to have been more seriously hurt."