More than 20 firefighters tackled a blaze in a flat in Ramsgate town centre early this morning.

The first floor blaze above a shop in Harbour Street was discovered about 3am and Kent Fire and Rescue Service teams from Thanet and Margate plus retained crews from Sandwich and Ramsgate dealt with the emergency.

A rescue service spokesman said: "The fire was contained to one room in the four-storey building and we acted very quickly to prevent it from spreading further. If we had been a few minutes later responding the level of damage could have been far more serious and we could have lost a sizeable portion of the building."

An investigation into the cause is under way.There were no casualties.