Six people were lucky to be alive today after the loft conversion in their Mid Sussex home caught fire.

A couple asleep in the loft at the two-storey house in Swift Lane, Langley Green, Crawley, awoke to crackling flames and the smell of smoke.

Firefighters said the blaze, which they believe may have been caused by a discarded cigarette, had been smouldering in the roof for several hours.

The occupants, aged 14 to 53, were all unharmed.

One firefighter said: "The people were very lucky. It could have been a lot worse.

"It had been burning for several hours in the roof but it wasn't until it broke through that they heard it."

Firefighters battled through the night to control a blaze at a barn in Rusper, near Horsham.

Four fire crews were called to a farm in Capel Road, at 8.45pm after a barn full of hay caught fire.

They worked solidly to put out the flames and were expected to stay until 1.30pm today damping down the bales.