A woman has been killed in a blaze at her Sussex home. She was carried unconscious from the building and died on her way to hospital.

Firefighters found her in an upstairs room of the smokelogged house in High Street, Ardingly, late last night.

They had smashed down the front door after neighbours warned them someone was trapped.

More than 20 firefighters were called to the scene at 11.30pm.

Leading Firefighter Ian Walker, of Haywards Heath, said: "When we arrived the upstairs of the property was heavily smokelogged. The house was locked so we had to force the front door down to gain entry.

"There were neighbours on the streets who were clearly very distressed by what was happening.

"Within minutes firefighters in breathing apparatus were searching the premises. The smoke was so thick they could not see further than their own noses.

"They found one person in an upstairs room and carried her out of the property. She was not conscious.

"The crew got inside the house as quickly as possible and behaved very professionally. It is a terrible shame the casualty died. We did our best."

The woman, believed to be in her 40s, was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath but died before arrival.

A police spokeswoman said: "Scenes of crime officers are working with fire investigators at the site of the fire today.

"Our investigations are in their early stages and we are not able to say if the fire was started deliberately. We are liaising with the coroner to determine how the woman died."

Dean O'Hara, crime scene manager for Sussex Police, said the fire started in the upstairs bedroom of the cottage.

He said the woman, who has not been named, was the only person in the building. A dog which was in the back garden survived and was today being looked after by a friend.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said police advised her to leave her home at 12.30am. She said about 10 people stood on the high street for about an hour while the area was made safe.

She added: "It's all been very shocking. We are all very upset."