A man has been left with nothing but the clothes on his back and a handful of pennies after fire ripped through his mobile home in Lancing.

Traffic warden Arthur Greenaway, 60, watched in disbelief as firemen doused the remains of his home and belongings.

Most of his possessions, including a collection of Dinky toys and his family photographs, were consumed by the flames at Abbey Close.

All that remained were the coins in his wallet and four bottles of whisky which firefighters managed to retrieve.

Mr Greenaway went to inspect a burning smell at around 3pm yesterday when he was confronted by a "black wall of smoke".

He said: "I was thinking, "What have I left on?" and went into the hallway. I took two breaths and ran straight out because the smoke was so thick I couldn't breathe."

Mr Greenaway, who had lived in the mobile home for four years, said: "Everything's gone. All my clothes, my shoes, my model railway set, everything you can think of. It will probably hit me later, I'm still in shock.

"Breathing that smoke, I realised if I stayed in there I was going to collapse. By the time the fire brigade arrived, which was only minutes later, the fire was well away."

Neighbour Mary-Rose Hilfiker said: "I saw black smoke coming out of one end then, within seconds, there was a bang and the fire shot through the house.

"I was frightened to death. The flames were coming this way. That poor man has not got a thing, he does not even have any shoes."

The fire is believed to have started in the bedroom. It became so fierce it melted the guttering on neighbouring homes.

Station Officer Terry Beck of Lancing fire station said: "Seventy per cent of the inside is damaged by direct flames, the rest is damaged by heat and smoke, and 25 per cent of the roof has collapsed.

"The gentleman did not have a smoke alarm. If he had fallen asleep and not noticed the smoke it could have been tragic."

The cause of the blaze is being investigated.