Children and parents were evacuated from Madplay soft play centre in Greenhithe after a bush was set alight in a nearby alleyway this afternoon.

Staff from the centre, in Charles Street, attacked the bush with fire extinguishers and evacuated the whole building in less than three minutes at around 2.15, before firefighters arrived.

No one was hurt in the incident and the fire did not take place on Madplay premises.

It is not yet known who started the fire but Madplay owner Steve Brooks said he thought it was vandals rather than an accident.

He said: "The fire was just in the back alleyway, a bush had been set alight so we called the fire brigade straight away and evacuated our building as a precaution.

"We used three fire extinguishers on the bush and it was no big deal really. We were back open within 20 minutes."