A beach hut was destroyed by fire after a handyman dropped a cigarette while giving the wooden building a new lick of paint.

Hove firefighters were called to the beach hut at Hove Lagoon yesterday at about 6.20pm after fire took hold in a beach hut.

Firefighters said that a workman repainting the hut on behalf of its owner had dropped a cigarette which set fire to some rags and then to flammable materials in the hut which caused it to burn down in a matter of minutes.

Huts either side also suffered some fire and smoke damage.

See a video of the fire here.