Customers were evacuated from an Indian restaurant in Deal on its opening night after smoke was seen billowing from the building.

Those eating in Dine India inside the Clarendon Hotel in Beach Street, as well as those in Burger Brothers next door, were asked to leave at around 6.30pm last night following the discovery of smoke in an upstairs bedroom.

They stood outside for around an hour and a half while firefighters went into the building.

The crew used thermal imaging cameras to detect where the smoke was coming from.

Crew manager Paul Copley said: “Workmen had been working on one of the flat roofs. We are assuming that some hot material dropped down in a cavity.

“We had to get between the walls to remove the material that was smoking.

“We had to cut away a bit of the wall.”

The crew used buckets of water to settle the smoke and stayed at the scene for around an hour to ensure the temperature dropped.

Crew manager Copley said there are no long term effects, only damage to the wall and carpet.