A MAN was rescued by firefighters early this morning as a blaze destroyed the inside of a first floor flat in a Kent seaside town.

The man was trapped inside the property in Sea Street at Herne Bay when the emergency services were called at around 2.30am.

The man was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and then taken to the QEQM Hospital in Margate.

Firefighters used ladders to rescue the man who was the only person in the flat at the time. The all-clear was given at about 3.50am.

The Sea Street fire comes just days after some 30 firefighters fought a blaze opposite Herne Bay Junior School in Kings Road. That fire, in the early hours of last Friday, destroyed the inside of a three-storey building.

Fire investigation officers are today examining the first floor flat in Sea Street.