A heavily pregnant woman and her husband jumped from a second-floor window to escape a fire allegedly started by neighbours.

The couple were forced to jump more than 20ft as the blaze ripped through the three-storey Victorian terraced house, divided into five flats, in Portland Road, Hove.

Two men living on the first floor were yesterday in police custody awaiting questioning.

Up to 20 firefighters from Hove and Preston Circus were called at about 2.15am yesterday after neighbours heard cries for help and raised the alarm.

The woman suffered burns to her stomach and hands but the unborn baby was uninjured. Her husband suffered from the effects of smoke inhalation and had minor cuts.

The couple were taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital where staff said last night the woman would be transferred to the burns specialist unit at the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead.

Three others escaped the fire.

Jan Jurczak-George, one of a number of people who raised the alarm, said: "As soon as I saw the flames I knew it was pretty bad. There were cries for help from the couple in the top flat but I think others had got out already by this time."

Three charred wooden chairs which had been used to smash out windows lay on the patio area outside the flats yesterday. Other windows, melted around their PVC frames, had fallen to the ground and the blackened insides of the three flats to the rear of the building were visible.