A family firm has been left to count the cost after thieves broke into their yard, stealing metal before setting fire to parked lorries.

Penny Russell, from Keith Russell Supplies, noticed the fire at the yard in Kingsnorth from her home nearby.

It was the second raid in less than a month, after thieves attempted to plunder lead from the roofing supplies firm two weeks ago.

Mrs Russell said on the previous occasion thieves attempted to use a getaway car, which got bogged down in the mud because of the weight. The thieves abandoned it and torched it.

Then on Friday they returned, and despite security measures put in place at the firm, they managed to break in by moving the lorries with a winch, before stealing lead and copper nails.

But before they left, they once again torched everything, leaving the two lorries devastated and the family thousands of pounds out of pocket.

Mrs Russell said: “It’s just dreadful. They could have got away with the lead, they didn’t need to burn out our lorries. It’s just heart-breaking.

“I could see the fire engines from my bedroom window. It’s awful that there are people in the world who could do this. It’s the pits.”

She says the damage to the lorries will cost the business thousands, and says the theft has delayed other tradesmen from starting their work with the materials.

Fortunately, she had already ordered other materials, and says had the thieves arrived a day later then the situation would have been far worse.

She said that they have now been forced to store metals at a storage facility with 24-hour surveillance. Mrs Russell said: “We want to earn our living. We’ve had a lot of support from our customers and our network, with people leaving calls and messages.”