A woman was carried to safety after fire engulfed her third-floor flat.

The blaze broke out in the kitchen of the flat at St Andrew's Gardens in Church Road, Tarring, Worthing, at 8.15pm yesterday.

Firefighters found the 39-year-old woman semi-conscious as smoke billowed through the property.

They carried her down three flights of stairs and she was taken to Worthing Hospital after breathing in smoke.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "Had a smoke detector been fitted in this property it would have given the occupant time to get out. It was a fairly severe fire though."