A kitchen was destroyed in a chip pan fire after the cooking was left unattended.

The occupant had left the kitchen in his flat when the blaze erupted but he was able to escaped unharmed and raise the alarm.

The fire happened at a flat in London Street, Folkestone, at about 12.40pm on Wednesday.

Two pumps from the Folkestone and Dover fire stations attended the blaze and crews wearing breathing apparatus and using a hosereel put out the flames.

The flat was then ventilated with a powerful fan, called a positive pressure fan.

The rest of the flat was damaged by smoke.

Folkestone crew manager Mick Burgess said: "People should never leave their cooking unattended. We would in fact recommend that people use deep fat fryers rather than chip pans.

"If they must use chip pans they should only be a third full."