RAIL commuters were today facing major disruption with train services between Dartford and Gravesend halted following a fire.

More than 100 people were evacuated from their homes in the Vale Road area of Northfleet on Sunday afternoon after firefighters called to a shed fire found an acetylene cylinder inside.

A 200m exclusion zone was immediately imposed for fear the cylinder could explode.

As the shed was close to the embankment of the railway line which runs between Dartford and Gravesend, firefighters had no choice but to insist on the closure of the track.

Kent Fire and Rescue’s Chris Colgan was at the scene on Sunday with Red Watch from Thameside fire station.

He said: "The call came in as a shed fire but when we arrived we found three cylinder, one of which was acetylene.

"Because of the risk of it exploding we needed to evacuate families from the nearby homes and set up an exclusion zone.

"We have to then wait 24 hours before it is considered safe to de-activate the cylinder. Sadly, this looks like it will mean major disruption for the morning rail commute."

Sarah Boundy of South Eastern Trains, confirmed that the exclusion zone remained in place this morning.

She said: "We are running a bus replacement service between Dartford and Gravesend which means there will be disruption for commuters."

The restrictions were due to be lifted at lunchtime today and rail bosses expected evening rail services to be back to normal.