Sleeping residents were woken up by the sound of an explosion, which the fire service has confirmed was a bus blaze.

People in Smarden, near Ashford, claimed to have been woken up at 2.30am by the fire near Smarden Bell Road, with others seeing fire engines driving towards the incident.

It is thought the fire was linked to an engine fault while no injuries were reported.

A KFRS spokesperson added: “Two fire engines attended and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, used hose reel jets to extinguish the flames.”