A chemist has opened at a sister location after his store was damaged in a major blaze.

The roof of Pender Pharmacy in Gravesend went up in flames alongside a former pub on Thursday afternoon.

Pharmacist and owner Stephen Kane said: "We were open and had four members of staff in but as it was lunchtime, only two were on the premises. We were all OK.

"We have another branch in the Gravesend Medical Centre, which is nearby, and we are working from there. We have now got access to the NHS records so we can now see what we have and who is waiting for prescriptions.

"From this morning, our services are all back running as normal as we can. It has been an enormous amount of work. You do not plan for it."

Firefighters were at the scene in Milton Road, at the junction of Queen Street, for around 24 hours after flames broke out at around 1pm on Thursday at the old New Inn pub.

At its peak, nine fire engines were in attendance along with a height vehicle.

By 4pm, that number had been reduced to seven engines and the height vehicle, with crews continuing to fight the flames and cut away any hot spots.

By 8.30pm, it had been scaled back to six crews who were turning over and damping down as an investigation was launched into the cause.

Due to the nature of the fire, and the fumes and dust still coming up from the site, people living in the nearby area including Queen Street, Milton Road and Parrock Street were still being asked to keep their windows and doors closed as a precaution.

Firefighters remained on the scene holding a watching brief overnight to make sure the fire didn't reignite, and to keep the scene safe.

By Friday morning, people were being told they could open their windows again but crews were still monitoring the remains and carrying out their investigation into how it started.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service operations did not fully stop until just before 12.30pm on Friday.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the service said: "It is believed the fire started due to an electrical fault."

The blaze left hardly any of the building standing and also caused "extensive damage" to neighbouring businesses.

Mr Kane added: "As far as I am aware we cannot do much. With us, I think we have to find out what the building owners are doing before we do anything.

"The whole building will need to be completely refurbished and that is going to be a complicated process as it is protected.

"We are really, really dependant on the owners of the pub. That is going to be the only limiting factor."

Patients can ring Pender Pharmacy on 01474 323828 as normal but Mr Kane said they may face longer waiting times.

Kent Highways has said Milton Road – one of the main routes into town – will stay shut until 5pm on June 2.