An elderly woman had to be evacuated from her home last night (Sunday) after a shed fire damaged the outside of her house.

The house in Herbert Road, Chatham had some of its windows and exterior pipe work damaged after a shed caught alight at a neighbouring property at 8pm.

It is unclear how the fire started.

A spokesman for green watch said: "We managed to stop the fire before it got inside the house but on the outside the windows and frames were damaged, pipework had melted and come away from the wall and the plaster had been burnt."

A neighbour is thought to have warned the elderly woman and she was already out of the house when crews arrived.

Firefighters said the incident was being treated as suspicious and police have been called in to investigate.