ARSONISTS brought Chatham town centre to a standstill last night when they torched the old ABC cinema (Janine Nolan writes).

Thick, black smoke engulfed the High Street as 40 firefighters battled to save the building which closed down 18 months ago.

A large section of the busy road was sealed off for three hours and nearby buildings evacuated as fire crews searched the building in case people were trapped.

Crews have been called to the site a number of times since the cinema’s closure and because they knew the layout of the building, they were able to find the source of the fire straight away.

Vandals managed to climb into the building at about 5pm and start a fire in a small machine room - where film reels and equipment used to be stored. Luckily the fire did not spread because of the concrete floor.

Nobody was found in the wreckage. Fire chiefs and police have launched an investigation.