A FAMILY had to flee when fire broke out in the bedroom of their semi-detached home in Meadow Close at Chatham.

The fire started in a small back bedroom at about 2pm on Sunday and quickly spread to the roof of the property. The flames also slightly damaged the roof of the home next door.

One eyewitness, who didn’t want to be named, said: “The fire service had it all under control within about 10 minutes of getting here. It could have been a lot worse, but they managed to stop the flames from spreading any further.”

A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman, said: “We got the call at 2.01pm. The family had all safely got out by the time our crews arrived.

“The fire spread to the roof of the property and had caused quite a bit of damage to rafters and roof at the back of the house.

Four crews, one from Chatham, one from Gillingham and two from Medway were sent to deal with the incident.

“The flames were put out very quickly, within about 15 minutes of us first getting the call and our crews averted the fire spreading further into the property next door.”