Firefighters and quick thinking pub staff saved the day of one couple's wedding after a blaze ignited a bedroom.

The Five Bells Inn in The Street, Brabourne, became engulfed in smoke as the electric intake cables caught alight in an electric cupboard situated at the back of the restaurant.

The bride, groom and their party were enjoying a pre-wedding meal when firefighters from Ashford stormed in and took control of the situation at 8.50pm.

Crew manager Mike Blundred said: "People had still been eating, they still had their food on the table."

Memo Sharm, the deputy manager, said guests were evacuated to a safe place across the road within five minutes.

He had heard cracking sounds coming from an electric cupboard, that was directly behind a table of people eating.

When the sound got louder, people were moved out of the premises and the fire brigade were called.

The staff had already tried to tackle the flames that were contained in the cupboard, but the fire was starting to spread to the bedroom directly above.

The firefighters found the owner, John Rogers, in one of the hotel bedrooms attempting to cool the area down.

Watch manager Clive Douglas, who is just days from retiring, was first on the scene gathering information of the incident.

But when Mr Blundred and his colleague Glen Martin got into the bedroom affected, they came to find it was the groom's place to stay for the night.

"There were about five or six suit bags," he said.

"We salvaged all of their suits and they are still getting married today.

"We gave them their suits and the owner assisted them in finding somewhere else to stay for the night.

"We also saved their speeches, presents and even the champagne, they cheered when we brought it down."

The pub staff managed to get the party a room at Ashford International Hotel.

Some of the crew went to meet the newly-weds later on today to congratulate them after last night's "unfortunate happenings".

The ceremony took place at Brabourne Church and their wedding reception had been pre-booked for a venue in Aldington.

Mr Blundred said when the crew arrived the fire had the potential to grow bigger.

He said: "If the fire had spread they wouldn't have had their suits, the crew were using their initiative."

Firefighters waited for the UK Power Network to arrive before leaving the pub at 1am.

The Five Bells Inn will remain closed until Wednesday, while repair work takes place.