A popular jerk chicken and Caribbean restaurant has closed after a fire broke out in the building.

The Jerk Cafe in Strood was hit by the blaze in an upstairs store room early on Wednesday morning.

Managers said in a post yesterday the restaurant will be "closed until further notice".

The statement added: "We would like to thank you for your continued support throughout and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"We appreciate you all and will be back open as soon as possible."

There was an outpouring of support for the business in the High Street with dozens of people leaving comments to give the staff and owners their best wishes and hopes for the business to come back stronger.

Flames were reported at the business shortly after 4.30am on Wednesday morning and firefighters were at the scene for three hours.

Four fire engines were called to the scene and extinguished the flames before battling the smoke which had built up inside the property.

Crews wore breathing apparatus and used hose reel jets to put out the flames and then used a high pressured fan to clear smoke.

No casualties were reported and the fire service says the cause is believed to have started accidentally as a result of an electrical issue.

Firefighters left the scene shortly before 7.30am.

A fire service spokesman said: "The fire was on the first floor of the building and was contained to the storage room but caused some smoke damage to the rest of the floor."

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