THE body of an elderly man was found by firefighters early today when they entered a house to put out a blaze.

The gruesome discovery was made shortly after midnight in a home at The Ferns, Larkfield, near Maidstone.

The body was found in the house by fire fighters from Larkfield, who had been called to a fire at the neighbouring house. They entered the other property because they believed that that was where the smoke was originating from.

Kent Police said investigations were continuing. A spokeswoman said: “It appears the fire started in the kitchen at sometime in the past 24 hours.”

The death will automatically be treated as suspicious until a post mortem examination has been carried out.