by Dan Bloom

Firefighters spent more than two hours at the scene of a blaze under a grocery shop.

A family of up to eight people had to flee the basement flat in Delce Road, Rochester, after a fire started in a bedroom at 11.30am.

One member of the family, which owns the Premier food shop above the flat, said the fire was caused by an electric heater.

Four fire engines including from Strood and Medway used water pumps and breathing apparatus to put out the blaze.

Neighbouring businesses were evacuated, police closed the road and residents reported seeing thick black smoke from as far as Blue Bell Hill.

Station manager Gary Stanford said: “The damage was very bad, the flat is not habitable. We are treating the fire as an accident.”

More to come in the Medway Messenger on Friday.