Firefighters said they were left baffled by their failure to find the source of an apparent leak that left a man and paramedic overcome by fumes.

Firefighters wearing specialist breathing equipment were called to the flat in Eversfield Road, Eastbourne, at 6.30pm last night after reports of a chemical leak.

A man had called paramedics after he was overcome by a strong smell.

A paramedic sent to treat the man was also overcome by fumes.

But despite spending three-and-a-half hours at the flat searching for the cause of the apparent leak, firefighters drew a blank.

A spokesman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: "We could not find anything - we found no root cause at all."