THE emergency services rushed to Lamberhurst, near Tunbridge Wells, today after an explosion inside a dustcart that was collecting domestic rubbish.

The loud bang, at about 7.30am, brought worried residents running out of their homes in Sand Road and Town Hill. They saw smoke pouring from within the vehicle.

Fire crews from Matfield and Wadhurst were quickly on the scene, but a fire and rescue service spokeswoman said that the blaze was proving difficult to handle because it was within the contained vehicle.

Overhead power cables were also affected by the heat and Seeboard engineers were called. It is not thought that anyone was injured in the incident.