Firefighters from around the county spent almost five hours bringing a fire at a large house in Meopham, near Gravesend, under control.

Six crews from Kent stations used breathing apparatus to fight the fire, which broke out at the two-storey house in White Post Lane, at about 3pm on Saturday.

It is thought the fire started on the ground floor of the building but Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) said there were no reports of anyone being trapped inside.

Crews from Thames-side, Swanscombe, Borough Green, Larkfield and Maidstone were at the scene.

The fire destroyed at least 50 per cent of the lower floor. Most of the rest of the house was damaged by smoke.

At first crews had difficulty tracing the seat of the flames and fire chiefs sent in four crews using breathing apparatus to locate it.

A spokesman for KFRS said: “Crews spent around five hours fighting the flames.

The building is a very large private dwelling and at first the firefighters had difficulty locating the seat of the fire.

"Crews were able to put out the flames by about 9pm, but our fire investigators returned to the scene on Sunday morning to start an investigation as to how the fire started.”