Firefighters searching a smoke-filled flat found the smouldering naked body of a murdered prostitute, a jury was told.

Andrea Waddell, 29, was strangled at her home in Brighton on the night of October 15 last year.

She had become a sex worker after gaining a Masters degree in social and political thought at Sussex University.

Neil McMillan, 42, a client who had sex with her on the night she was killed, is on trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of murder.

The jury heard neighbours called 999 after seeing smoke coming from the first-floor flat in Upper Lewes Road.

Firefighter James Holgate told the court he used breathing apparatus to enter the one-bedroom flat.

He said the smoke was thick and he and a colleague felt there way into the flat and made their way to the burning bedroom.

He said: “I could see flames but very little else because of the thick black smoke.”

He said the bed was on fire and there was also an area alight behind the door.

When he and his colleague searched the room they discovered the body lying on the floor. He said there was no sign of life.

The court was told Miss Waddell was lying on her back and she had suffered severe burns.

The prosecution allege McMillan, of Bennett Road, Brighton, killed Miss Waddell after booking a £140 an hour session at her home. He is alleged to have set fire to the flat to cover his tracks.

McMillan, a satellite TV installer, denies murder.

He told police following his arrest that after having sex on her bed, he left her flat because someone else arrived, who he did not see.

The court has been told Miss Waddell was born a man, called Alex, but had gender reassignment surgery in 2004.

The prosecution allege that on the night of the murder McMillan had been to the Tin Drum, in St James’s Street, where he spent hours trawling porn and escort sites on his laptop as well as drinking seven pints of beer.

The trial continues.