An elderly man died after a fire broke out at his home.

The blaze began in the semi-detached house in The Street, Upper Stoke, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Crews from Hoo, Grain, Strood, Medway and Thames-side were called shortly after 5.30am.

The man, 78, had not been officially identified as we went to press. He lived alone in the house and it is thought he had lived in the village all of his life.

Police and fire investigators spent Saturday morning at the scene trying to determine how the blaze started and later said the fire was not suspicious.

It may have started in the living room, which was badly damaged. The fire is believed to have been burning for some time before it was discovered and a passer-by raised the alarm after seeing smoke coming out of the front room window.

A tarpaulin sheet had been placed over the window, which was shattered, and other windows in the home were blackened by smoke from the fire.

Villagers said they didn’t realise the fire had started until they woke up and heard the noise from police radios and the fire engines.

One man, who didn’t want to be named, said he believed the man’s name was Bill. “He’s lived here all his life and I think he was in his late 70s,” he added.

A police spokesman said: “Kent Police and Kent Fire and Rescue Service remained at the scene and are trying to establish the cause of the man’s death.”

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