A mother and her four children had a lucky escape after their house was destroyed in a fire.

A teenager raised the alarm after waking up and smelling smoke in the house in Hamilton Close, Mile Oak, Portslade, early today.

The family managed to make their way out of the two storey, end of terrace building before fire crews arrived shortly after 3am.

All five were taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation but nobody was seriously hurt.

Hove fire station watch manager Graham Rudman said the fire had been started by a candle which had been left on top of the TV set.

The house also had a smoke alarm but it was not working at the time.

Mr Rudman said: "They have had the luckiest escape I have ever seen. If the oldest child had not woken up in time we could have been dealing with multiple deaths.

"The blaze has more or less destroyed the house. When we arrived smoke and flames were coming out of the ground floor and spreading up to the first floor.

"The fire was very severe but we were able to bring it under control and put it out relatively quickly."

Two crews from Hove were called out to tackle the blaze and were at the scene for around two hours.

The Red Cross fire victim support van was also called out to help the family, whose children ranged in age from four to 14.

Do you know the family or did you see the fire? Call the newsdesk on 01273 544519 or leave your comments below.