MORE than 25 firefighters were called to tackle a two-house blaze in the Medway Towns.

Five crews, including an aerial unit from Maidstone, were called to the incident in South Avenue, Rainham, at about 1.45pm on Thursday.

At that time, the roofs of the two semi-detached properties were well alight.

Neighbours raised the alarm after spotting smoke billowing through the roofs of both properties.

Police cordoned off South Avenue from Eastcourt Lane to allow crews to tackle the blaze.

The fire is thought to have started in the roof of one of the properties and then spread to the neighbouring house. Both were empty at the time.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said: “When we arrived the fire was well established.

"The tiled roof was containing the flames and forcing them down into the houses.

"Crews removed some tiles to allow the flames to escape and gained access through an upstairs window.”

Darren Adams, 17, from Twydall, Gillingham, was one of the first people on the scene.

He said: “We were driving past and saw flames, it looked really bad. Thank God nobody was inside.”