Firefighters spent more than five hours tackling a blaze inside a warehouse at Chatham Docks.

Crews were called to North Side Three Road, St Mary's Island, at 9.20pm last night after a recycling machine caught alight at Street Fuel Ltd.

The machine was connected to a 500 litre diesel tank and there was a danger the flames could spread.

Around 20 firefighters, from Strood, Chatham and Rochester stations, tackled the flames with water and foam. They were on the scene for five hours.

The operation was then scaled back to one pump which remained there for a further hour, until just after 3am this morning.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said: “The fire could have escalated, it was a big warehouse and it could have spread. We did a good job.”

"The machinery was completely destroyed so it was impossible to tell what had caused it."

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