Dozens of firefighters have been battling a blaze which swept through a Boots store in Canterbury this morning.

Smoke was reported coming from the building on the Riverside Retail Park in Wincheap shortly before 6.30am.

At the height of the fire, 14 appliances from around East Kent including a turntable ladder were at the scene and firefighters doused the surrounding store roofs with water to prevent it spreading.

The area was cordoned off and neighbouring stores were unable to open until later in the morning when the scene was deemed safe.

Dramatic pictures of the blaze were caught on camera by keen amateur photographer Rita Keatley, who lives nearby in Wincheap.

She said: "I always have my camera with me, even when I go shopping. I was planning to pop into Morrisons first thing but it was all cordoned off.

"I have never seen so many fire engines and it looked quite dramatic. Fortunately, I had a zoom lens so could get some quite close up shots."

A spokesman for Kent Fire Service said: "We have started to scale it down now but are still checking for hot spots.

"Nobody was in the store when the fire started on the shop floor and nobody has been hurt."

She said an investigation will be carried out into the cause of the blaze.