FIREFIGHTERS have been praised for containing a blaze that ripped through an office. The fire, in a converted barn in Magpie Hall Road, Chilmington, near Ashford, still caused damage amounting to thousands of pounds.

The roadside office belongs to Brian Parritt, whose home is behind it. From it Mr Parritt runs an international maritime security company with a staff of five.

He believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault in the roof.

"I lost a lot of paperwork and office equipment but I have back-up files, " he said. Within four hours Mr Parritt had found himself a new office in Wye.

As his staff arrived for work he was able to tell them that there was a phone working there already.

Fire crew commander Chris Jordan said: "The fire was through the roof when we arrived. We got two cars out of the garage and stopped the fire spreading to the adjoining offices.

Mr Parritt was confident that he could renovate the barn.

The fire was first spotted by Charlotte Wakelyn, of Tennyson Road, South Ashford, as she cycled to tend her horse in a nearby field.

Miss Wakelyn phoned the fire brigade and called on neighbours Michael and Norma Bowers. Mr Bowers said: "Our dogs had already wakened us and we heard what sounded like shots but it was tiles popping on the office roof next door. We smelled burning and I saw flames leaping over our garage roof."

"The fire brigade arrived in minutes. They were brilliant."