Flames have ripped through a supermarket this morning, destroying the building's roof, after cooking equipment is thought to have caught alight.

A dozen fire engines were called to the Morrisons store on Cheriton Road in Folkestone at around 7.30am.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service say the blaze is thought to have broken out in a deep fat fryer in the store's cafe.

Click here for live updates from the fire

Two height vehicles and a command support unit were also at the scene. The incident has now been scaled down to six fire engines and two height vehicles.

A police cordon has been set up in Cheriton Road about 400 metres away from Morrisons, with police guiding traffic up Cornwallis Avenue.

Firefighters on a cherry picker are tackling the blaze from above, with smoke seen billowing eastwards towards Sugarloaf hill.

The Three Hills Sports Park, next to the supermarket, is being evacuated because of the smoke coming from the store after the roof entirely collapsed.

Meanwhile, nearby Harvey Grammar School has said it is business as usual for pupils and it will not be closing unless advised to do so.

Morrisons has confirmed no-one was hurt in the fire, and there are no ambulances present at the scene.

The blaze can be seen high above the town and there are several road closures are in place as a result of the fire.

The A2034 Cheriton Road is shut in both directions from Cornwallis Avenue to the traffic lights for the A20 Cherry Garden Avenue.

Five bus routes are being diverted via Shorncliffe Road.

People living and working nearby were advised to close their windows and doors due to the smoke.

KCC Highways tweeted this morning to say that the road is expected to stay closed for a few days.

The website said: "Road closed between the junctions of Cherry Garden Avenue and Radnor Park Road due to a large building fire.

"Diversion route is Canterbury Road, Churchill Avenue and Cherry Garden Avenue.

"Emergency services are in attendance. It is likely the road will be closed for a few days."

Gallery1

On Twitter this morning, Morrisons said: "We are dealing with a fire at our Folkestone store.

"We would like to thank the emergency services who are on site.

"All colleagues and customers have been evacuated from the store safely.

"We are working on a plan to support our customers including bus services to our Dover store and home delivery."

For live updates, videos and audio at the scene, click here.