by James Scott

jscott@thekmgroup.co.uk

Police are treating a fire which gutted a derelict building as suspicious.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service was called after smoke was seen coming from the old building behind the former South Kent College site at Elwick Road, Ashford, at 1.30pm today.

A height vehicle, four fire engines from Ashford, Charing and Faversham, 20 firefighters and police officers were on the scene at the height of the blaze.

Crews tackled the fire for more than three hours but were forced to leave the building for safety reasons. Its roof later collapsed.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire and made the scene safe before leaving at 5.30pm.

Insp Tony Boakes said: "We're treating it as suspicious and inquiries are ongoing."

K College was granted permission to create a £25 million campus on the site in September.

It hopes to have it built by 2013.