A COAL bunker at Kingsnorth Power Station, found to be smouldering last Friday morning, was still burning this morning.

Firefighters from across north Kent, and a specialist crew from Ashford, were sent to the power station near Hoo at about 10.30am, on Friday after staff at the site called them in.

Crews from Strood, Medway, Cliffe, Hoo and Maidstone, along with a command support unit, spent most of the day at the site.

A specialist foam unit from Ashford pumped pumped of foam into the bunker, which contains 350 tons of coal.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "It was a long job and we were eventually stood down at about 2am the following day. The on-site power station firefighters then took over. No one was hurt in the incident and the was no danger to the public."

A crew from Strood were sent back to the site in the early hours of this morning after on-site firefighters again called for assistance.

The crew spent another three hours filling up the bunker with more foam. A spokeman added: "We refilled the bunker with another foam blanket.

"Staff at the site may soon empty the bunker of the coal as this will help extinguish the fire."

The cause is unknown, though it may be due to spontaneous combustion.

In a statement, a power station spokeswoman said: "Late on Friday afternoon we called the fire service to the site for assistance with some fuel which had started to smoulder within the bunker.

"As a preventative measure the fuel was covered with a layer of foam which the fire Service added to overnight Friday and late on Sunday.

"The situation was dealt with in a controlled way and there was no danger to either our staff, the fire service team or the power station. We will be investigating the cause of the smouldering."