Thirty firefighters had to tackle a blaze aboard a cargo ship at Chatham Docks this lunchtime.

Crews were called at 12.30pm today after the fuel container on the 200ft vessel, which was carrying cement, caught light.

Medway Coastguard and the Sheerness off-shore lifeboat were also called to the scene (pictured left).

David Devine, watch manager at Medway fire station, said: "It appears from our initial inspection that there was a break in the fuel line to a generator which was being used to pump cement out of the ship. This caused the fire in the fuel container on top of the ship."

The ship's crew initially tackled the flames and then firefighters were able to isolate the fuel supply and extinguish the blaze using specialist foam.

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