Police were called to the scene at 10.17pm last night.

The fire was originally thought to be coming from a depot of plant hire group Hewden Hire in Brett Drive.

However, police have confirmed the fire was actually coming from a hired warehouse next to Hewden Hire and materials group Brett Concrete.

The warehouse is understood to have been restoring old busses.

A nearby Tesco sucked in the smoke through its air-conditioning system causing 12 of its night workers to be hospitalised and treated for smoke inhalation. Only one of the workers was kept in overnight.

A spokesman from Sussex Police told B&E the fire was under control in just over an hour with no damage done to the neighbouring buildings.

He said: “The fire came from a bus that was being worked on. Our forensic detective has looked at it and it’s gone down as accidental ignition.”

The Tesco store was reopened at 10.37am this morning after a visit from its environmental officer who declared it safe.