Firefighters are battling a blaze in a former bakery in Herne Bay which is believed to have been started by intruders.

Two crews are at the scene of Hoppers bakery in Sea Street where a large amount of rubbish is said to be alight inside the redundant building.

It closed in 2007 and has been plagued recently by young people getting inside.

The road was closed shortly after 10.30am when the fire was reported and firefighters wearing breathing apparatus have been deployed.

Incident commander Liam Dyball said nobody was inside the building when emergency services arrived.

He added: "We are aware that young people have been getting inside and there is a lot of rubbish and general discarded debris alight.

"We suspect the fire may have been started deliberately."

Hoppers Farmhouse Bakery was a 200-year-old family business which was taken over by Interlink Foods in 2004.

It decided to close the operation in 2007 and transfer the work to Blackburn, Lancashire.

The company's lease on the building expired in 2008 and it has been redundant ever since.