A mattress dumped in a Gillingham alleyway has damaged gardens after setting fire to an 80ft tree.

Fire crews were called to the rear of Windsor Road at 2.40pm today after a resident noticed the mattress alight.

Residents tried to extinguish the flames themselves, but were unable to stop it from spreading.

By the time firefighters had arrived it had spread rapidly to garden fencing, a pine tree and a shed in several gardens.

It took crews less than an hour to fully extinguish the flames.

A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "The damage was quite severe with 20ft of fencing being damaged along with the shed and tree."

The cause of the fire is being treated as suspicious.