Arsonists may have been responsible for a blaze at a major shopping centre.

Police are investigating after the fire in the basement of BHS at the County Mall, Crawley.

Smoke billowing from a small storage area triggered fire alarms and the sprinkler system in the centre's basement early on Saturday.

The basement and ground floor became clogged with smoke, making it difficult to identify the source of the flames.

More than 80 firefighters from across north Sussex were called to help clear smoke from the three-storey building and nearby multi-storey car park.

The fire, which started at about 1.30am, was confined to the basement, which was severely damaged. No stock was affected.

Firefighters were at the scene for more than three hours. Marketing assistant Michelle Daniels said: "All fire systems activated correctly. The fire brigade attended and the fire was contained.

"The store opened as usual on Saturday morning and trading was unaffected."

A police spokesman said the fire was being treated as suspicious and appealed for witnesses.