A Tesla and three other vehicles were damaged after a blaze on the roof-top car park.

The fire started at around 11.30am in a white Audi Q7 on the top of The Mall shopping centre in Maidstone.

Car blaze on rooftop car park in Maidstone

The driver, a woman, was able to exit the vehicle and was unhurt, but her car was seriously damaged before firefighters were able to extinguish the flames.

Two fire engines attended the incident as plumes of black smoke billowed from the burning car.

Mall security staff temporarily shut off access to the car park while the incident was being dealt with.

Three other nearby vehicles, believed to be a Tesla, a Nissan Micra and a BMW were damaged by the flames and heat.

Abi Wilding watched the blaze from her office in Maidstone House overlooking the car park.

She said: "It really went up. There was so much smoke it was like a foggy day and there were loud popping noises coming from the car."

A spokesman for The Mall said: "“Earlier this morning an Audi Q7 burst into flames while driving on the top floor of our car park. The driver of the vehicle alerted the fire brigade who arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire within 20 minutes.

"Unfortunately, three other cars were damaged by the fire but thankfully no one was injured.

"The affected area of the car park was cordoned off by our security staff and will remain so until the damaged cars are removed. The rest of the car park and the shopping centre are open as normal."

"We would like to thank the fire brigade and police for the rapid and efficient response to the incident.”