Police were today continuing to investigate the cause of a fire which tore through a caravan and spread to a neighbouring rest home.

A man died and 27 of the home's elderly residents were evacuated as flames swept through Summertons Nursing Home in Main Road, Chidham, near Chichester.

Detectives believe the blaze was started deliberately at just before 3am yesterday.

Staff at the home today said they did not want to comment and one worker said: "There has been a death and it is fairly traumatic, as you can imagine."

A police spokesman said the fire was being treated as suspicious.

The name of the man who died has not been released.

The nursing home was cordoned off with tape for most of yesterday as police and fire officials investigated the scene.

In another incident, two people were arrested at the scene of an electrical store blaze.

Firefighters were called to the fire at the back of Curry's store in Broad Piece, Littlehampton, at 1.30am today.

Two crews from Littlehampton and one from Arundel spent more than an hour battling to stop flames from spreading to the next door Focus Do It All store.

Both single-storey buildings were smoke-logged by the fire which was believed to have been started deliberately.

Curry's was closed today due to the damage. The Inside of Focus Do It All was covered in soot but the store was open as usual.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said the two people arrested were today being questioned about the blaze.