No arrests have been made in connection with an arson attack, one year after a supermarket and an adjoining pharmacy were gutted.

Officers were called to the Tesco Express store off Mace Lane at 12.30am on Friday, March 31 last year after a fire was started at the back of the building.

The fire tore through the building, in Ashford, in the early hours after material at the rear of the building was deliberately set alight.

It swept through the tiled roof and also affected the adjoining Paydens pharmacy, which was also badly damaged.

The fire ripped through the stores, causing major damage to the steel girders and tiles.

Firefighters battled for hours to bring the blaze under control, but by morning both the Tesco store and the Paydens Pharmacy were left ruined by fire and water damage.

More than 20 firefighters were involved in bringing the blaze under control and at one point, four fire engines, a height vehicle and bulk water carrier were at the scene.

The alarm was initially raised when nearby residents spotted smoke coming from the roof.

Firefighters remained at the scene until 4.30am, with store workers helping to clear some of the ash and debris at the site in the morning.

After an investigation, police said the cause of the fire was an arson which was started in the storage area to the rear of the building.

In the aftermath of the blaze police appealed for witnesses.

But one year on, nobody has been arrested for causing the damage, as there was no CCTV coverage or witnesses.

Workmen began dismantling the roof last spring, which included pulling down the twisted steel girders.

Two large cherry pickers were used by contractors to remove the remaining tiles and the large steel girders which had once supported the roof.

This work continued as a new roof was then fitted over the summer and autumn.

Tesco reopened in December last year, and Paydens reopened in January.