A blaze in the sauna at a Kent leisure pool has gutted the health suite and rendered the whole centre unusable in the middle of a busy half-term.

Staff at Tides Leisure Pool in Deal have been praised by Kent Fire and Rescue for their slick evacuation of the building when the fire broke out on Wednesday.

Kalvin Clapson, business development manager of Vista Leisure, which runs the centre on behalf of the district council, said the blaze has been a "blow".

It is being investigated as arson and crew manager David Potts of Deal’s Fire Station said: "Anecdotal evidence suggests people were putting plastic cups on the coals."

Mr Clapson added: "It has completely wrecked the area, the rest is suffering from smoke damage.

"We’ve started the clean-up today in the hope we will have the building open tomorrow.

"It’s a blow but we’ve got to deal with it as best as we can and open the building up again."

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