With the store's aisles packed with shoppers buying food and drink for the week ahead, the afternoon of July 17, 1993, had been much like any other Saturday at Tesco in Grove Green.

Just hours later the entire supermarket would be engulfed in one of the worst fires many at Kent Fire and Rescue had ever witnessed - firefighters battling into the night to stop the flames spreading to homes and businesses around the store in Grovewood Drive.

Thirty years on, the fire still burns bright in the memories of those who witnessed it, and many recall the scenes of devastation in its aftermath - with Tesco suffering £15 million worth of damage and having to be completely rebuilt.

But it could have been far worse.

At the neighbouring pub Early Bird, managers Malcolm and Jean Reed had looked on as flames leapt 50ft into the night sky and came within touching distance of their home and business.

"The first we knew of the fire was around closing time when we smelled smoke,” said Mrs Reed in the aftermath of the blaze. “We dialled 999 and the operator said they knew about it, it was a skip on fire. Then my husband came in shouting, ‘That’s no skip, the shop’s alight’.’”

With flames spreading to within a metre of the pub, Mrs Reed said it was down to the efforts of firefighters that they still had a business.

“I cannot believe it is still here,” she said. “At one point you could reach out of the bathroom window and touch the flames. It was terrifying."

The drama had begun shortly before 11pm when Kent Fire Brigade had received the first 999 call, reporting a small fire in a skip behind Newsrack newsagents.

But within minutes, emergency switchboard operators were swamped with calls from the pub and nearby houses which made it clear that the situation was much worse than originally indicated.

Sub Officer Chris Nelson, of Kent Fire Brigade, said that by the time the first crews arrived, the blaze had already spread into the roof space of the newsagents.

Tesco night-shift staff put a well-rehearsed fire drill into practice as the flames spread through the roof space to the supermarket, and a short while later the roof of the store collapsed.

“The heat was tremendous,” recalled Kent Fire Brigade senior divisional officer Peter May, who said he had never seen such a rapid spread of fire in all his 27 years' service with the brigade.

As the blaze reached its height, there were fears that sparks from the fire could leap to a neighbouring petrol station, but again firefighters were able to prevent a potential catastrophe.

Sadly, a newsagents and local sub-Post Office, dry cleaners, and chemist were destroyed, as well as the store, although crews were also able to stop an estate agent being seriously damaged.

More than 130 firefighters with 25 tenders had battled the inferno, and thanks to their efforts it was eventually brought under control at 4.45am the following day.

It had been one of the largest blazes ever seen in Maidstone, visible for miles around, and the damage was so bad that the supermarket - built just five years previously - had to be demolished and rebuilt.

Store manager Wayne Bremner had been with the supermarket since it opened in September 1988, and was clearly shaken as he viewed the charred remains of the shopping complex.

But if the supermarket giant was rocked by the fire, it was also determined to keep supplies flowing to the good folk of Grove Green - and swung into action at an early stage.

The embers had hardly stopped glowing the following morning when store bosses were on-site organising shuttle bus services to the Tesco store at Larkfield, and arranging a leaflet drop to nearby homes explaining the temporary arrangement.

Director Dennis Tuffin said a new supermarket could spring up on the site “within a year, perhaps less,” and gave assurances that none of the 280 full and part-time jobs at Grove Green were in danger, pledging all employees would be deployed to other stores.

Later that year a 'portable Tesco supermarket' was set up, and opened its doors to customers in the car park of the old store in December.

Meanwhile, back at the The Early Bird pub, Malcolm and Jean Reed, explained they had reported children playing with matches near the store on a number of occasions and said the fire “had been waiting to happen for a long time.”

Three teenagers were later quizzed by police following the blaze and were subsequently released on police bail, while a report was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Two school boys, one aged 15 and the other aged 16, were then jointly charged with deliberately setting fire to two rubbish skips and the newsagents, causing criminal damage valued at about £100,000.

The following year, they went to trial at Maidstone Crown Court but were acquitted on the orders of the judge.