A COUPLE who have spent months renovating their home returned from work to find much of it had gone up in flames.

Keith Linton and Maggie Rogers are devastated. The couple are getting married in 14 weeks’ time.

The blaze was caused by a plumber who accidentally set light to the beams of the roof, using a soldering iron. More than 40 firefighters tackled the blaze at the property in Warren Road, Blue Bell Hill, near Chatham.

But it wasn’t all bad news. Ms Rogers said: "We had a new addition to our family with the birth of a baby grandson."

She added: "We’ve been having loads of work done on the house, including an extension,

"We are getting married in 14 weeks and were hoping to return home to our newly renovated house after our honeymoon.

"We will now have to go and live in a hotel for a few days and then look for somewhere rented until we can live in the house again. It’s just awful, but life has its ups and downs."

Ms Rogers explained that apart from the downstairs toilet, every room in the house had been damaged.

The roof was completely destroyed, as was an antique desk, valued at £5,000, that was in the study.

The fire began at around 10am on Wednesday while both Ms Rogers and Mr Linton were at work. Mr Linton said: "I’m just so glad that no-one has been hurt."