Over 30 firemen extinguished a major blaze near a railway station after 10 hours of firefighting.

The flames broke out in a scaffolding yard next to Farningham Road Railway Station at Sutton-at-Hone.

Six fire engines were sent to the scene, which on arrival was described as a “large and well developed fire”.

The heat had weakened the building’s steel structure and it had started to collapse as crews extinguished the flames.

However, no one is believed to have been injured.

Railway lines that take trains to London Victoria were closed, as was the train station and nearby Station Road.

Crews used a compressed air foam system to tackle the blaze, which helps reduce the firefighting time by up to 30 times because of the way the water and foam work together.

“Full credit must go to the crews for the work they did." - Andrew Ray, station manager

Also in use was a height vehicle, three main jets, a hose reel jet and breathing apparatus.

Andrew Ray, station manager, said: “Crews were faced with a real challenge in the location of the fire which was between Network Rail infrastructure and Station Road.

“The closure of the rail infrastructure was essential to the firefighting that was planned with our height vehicle.

“Although the railway lines are closed to passenger traffic at that time, engineering trains run up and down North Kent railway lines, so we needed to work with Network Rail to close the rail and totally isolate the live rail, because of the risk from the large volumes of water needed to tackle the blaze from a good vantage point.

“Full credit must go to the crews for the work they did. It was particularly challenging given the rail infrastructure that proved a challenge and that the building was a steel structure that had lost its strength and had started to collapse.

“They really should be congratulated for that hard work carried out early on in controlling the fire and for a good tactical plan that was implemented, that brought the fire under control and helped get the railway line re-opened so quickly.”

Once the fire was out crews damped down and eventually left the scene.

Farningham Road Station and Station Road were re-opened with all rail services back up and running from 5.30am.

An investigation into the fire is underway and is being conducted by the Fire Investigation Research Team and British Transport Police.