A huge fire which ripped through a Kent furniture store 20 years ago is still remembered for the devastating and alarming spectacle it created.

The blaze, which brought Canterbury to a standstill on October 6, 2004, saw flames and thick smoke pouring across New Dover Road as up to 80 firefighters fought to bring it under control.

But the huge building, on the corner with Upper Chantry Lane, could not be saved and it was reduced to a smouldering shell.

The fierce fire broke out at about 1pm inside the Courts store which was full of sofas, beds and chairs, and open to the public at the time.

Two staff working there on the day were safely outside the building when the blaze took hold.

About 500 workers at the neighbouring BT offices were immediately evacuated, soon followed by employees at the then Blockbusters and Safeway supermarket as well as students from Canterbury College.

“It started off quite tamely, then it just took off,” said Chris Williams, who worked at the now-abandoned BT centre.

Mechanic Tom Richards, 32, who was working at the Oaten Hill Mews Garage some 100 yards from Courts at the time, recalled the drama 10 years later.

“What I remember from the day was that it was about lunchtime and I was thinking about some food and then suddenly it was chaos,” he said.

“You could hear all this commotion and they were telling us to get back because it was feared the wall which fronted onto Upper Chantry Lane was going to collapse.

“They closed off a massive area around the building. It had a huge effect on the city because Courts sat on such a prominent junction.”

A Courts staff member still based at the store, Libby O’Toole said: “I was on my lunch break when I saw all this smoke and commotion. A policeman had to tell me what was going on.”

The wind sent thick smoke billowing across St George’s Place and New Dover Road and police dispersed the growing number of onlookers and widened the cordoned-off area.

Pupils at Barton Court Grammar School were also kept indoors, on the advice of the police.

At one point, the cordoned off area stretched from Longport across to Oaten Hill, and from St Augustine’s Road down New Dover Road to the Lower Bridge Street roundabout at the city wall.

A first aid post with oxygen was set up and some by-standers had to be treated for minor smoke inhalation at the scene.

By 3pm, flames could clearly be seen flickering over the walls of the Courts building.

The then-owner of Oaten Hill newsagents, Linda Shearer witnessed the drama unfold.

“I watched smoke start to rise from the end closest to the BT building,” she said.

“My shop was empty by 2.30pm because of a police cordon in Dover Street and Cossington Road.

“It was strange having the shop so quiet with all the activity going on just 150 yards away.

“I went into the back garden at about 3pm and flames were coming out of the corner of the building.”

The Kentish Gazette splashed the story on the front page and inside the next day’s newspaper, with dramatic photographs taken by now retired chief reporter, Gerry Warren, who still writes freelance for the Kent Messenger Media Group.

“Seeing the pictures again reminded me of what a dramatic scene it was in the middle of Canterbury, “ he said.

“I am sure everyone who witnessed it still remembers it.

“I was in our office in St George’s Place when the sirens started sounding and went outside to see what all the commotion was.

“One thing I recall is the roaring noise of the fire which was being fanned by the wind.

“I was waiting to take photos with my first digital camera and then suddenly there was an eruption of flames. That’s when I squeezed the trigger.

“It was a very chaotic scene. There were lots of people running about and police were urging people to get away as rubber-neckers turned up to watch.”

Despite an intensive investigation, the cause of the fire was never established.

The Courts UK business had been put into administration in 2004, owing banks £240 million, leading to the closure of 88 stores with the loss of 1,400 jobs and leaving thousands of angry customers out of pocket.

It was a sad end for the firm founded by William Court in Canterbury in 1850, with his first shop in Butchery Lane, later expanding into a bigger store in Burgate.

In 1945, the Cohen brothers took over and expanded the firm, launching the furnishing business in the Caribbean in 1959.

But there is previous history of fires at Courts stores in Canterbury.

The shop in Burgate was badly damaged by fire in May, 1964 and that building had been opened because the Courts store at the corner Butchery Lane and Burgate was gutted by fire in January, 1955.

The Courts store site in New Dover Road had already been sold to developers at the time of the fire and plans to create a new block of 44 flats and 20 new homes were granted planning permission earlier in the year.

The damaged building was later demolished and redeveloped.