THE couple who slept through Brighton's biggest blaze in 20 years say they are lucky to be alive.

As the Royal Albion Hotel burned around them, Stephen and Michelle Burton rose at 10.30am, showered and drank coffee.

While firefighters struggled to contain the blaze which sent smoke pouring over the whole town, the Burtons, from West Molesey, Surrey, were busy making Christmas plans.

It was only when they had packed their bags and wandered into the corridor outside that they noticed the thick black smoke.

Stephen, 41, said: "We had had a lot to drink the night before and had been singing karaoke at the Palace Pier before leaving at closing time.

"We went back to the hotel bar and had a few more drinks."

The couple got up the next day, showered and discussed what to give each other for Christmas before packing their bags and stepping out of the room at 11.30am - nearly four hours after the fire started.

Stephen said: "We didn't realise anything was happening. The curtains were drawn and we must have just slept through it all."

Michelle, 32, said: "We opened the door and all we could see was smoke. It was black throughout.

"Once we realised we couldn't go back the way we had got into the hotel it was terrifying."

After a frantic two minutes the soot-covered couple, who have two children, found the fire escape and made their way to safety.

Michelle said: "We saw a policewoman and she couldn't believe it when we said we have just come out of the hotel.

"They said we were lucky to be alive.

"It's frightening. There were two floors already gone at that stage and we couldn't even see the sky because the air was so black."

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