Firefighters are asking people to ensure electrical appliances are switched off following a fire at a home in Worthing.

A crew from Worthing fire station was called to a house in Clarendon Road, Worthing, at 2.30am this morning after reports one of the beds was alight.

A pair of hair-straightening tongs had been left lying on the bed, plugged in, causing the fire.

Smoke alarms alerted the family who were sitting in the living room downstairs and the fire was put out before the firefighters arrived.

Fire brigade Sub Officer Darren Wickins said: "If this family had not had an effective smoke alarm, the house could have become fully involved in a fire."

Two teenage girls were trapped in a telephone box after vandals jammed the door shut.

Firefighters used a crow bar to rescue the girls from the phone box in Sackville Road, Worthing, at 7pm yesterday.

A group of vandals kicked the door, jamming it shut as the girls were using the phone.