TOXIC, black smoke poured from a chemical warehouse on Hoo Marina Estate, near Rochester, after a steam cleaner caught fire.

The warehouse belongs to a company called Clean Image. The incident happened at the weekend.

A Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “Because it was Sunday few people were on site, otherwise the situation could have been a lot worse.

“No chemicals caught fire, although there was always that potential, so we had to treat it as a major incident.”

No-one was hurt and there was little damage caused by the fire.