POLICE and fire experts in Thanet have begun an investigation after coaches were burnt out at a clifftop car park near Margate.

Damage to the vehicles is thought to run into tens of thousands of pounds and police say the cause is currently unknown.

Firefighters from Margate and Broadstairs were called to Palm Bay Avenue, Cliftonville, shortly before midnight on Thursday. Two luxury coaches belonging to Lakeside Coaches from Shropshire and Crusader Coaches from Clacton were both destroyed by flames.

A third coach from the Lakeside company was damaged with burnt bodywork and window surrounds.

A police spokeswoman said: “We understand that the wind was blowing from the sea onto the land and that this may have fanned the flames. Two other coaches in the same compound parked a little further away from the fire scene were not damaged. Fortunately the car park is isolated and away from buildings so the fire did not spread further.”