by Hayley Robinson

hrobinson@thekmgroup.co.uk

A landord has praised a team of fire fighters for saving one of Medway’s oldest pubs from burning to the ground.

Six pumps were called to The Bell pub in Bredhurst at 10.37am today, Thursday, after a fire started under the kitchen floor.

Landlord John Price, said: “The firefighters were absolutely fantastic. If it wasn’t for their quick response we would have lost the pub.”

Two pumps from Medway were initially called to the scene but a further four pumps from Cliffe, Rainham, Chatham and Sittingbourne were called in as there was potential for the fire to spread due to the wooden fabric of the building.

Eight firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were sent in to cut away various areas of the floor to extinguish the fire which is believed to have spread via the extractor system.

Three people were in the building at the time of the fire but everyone escaped without injury.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Two of the owners of the pub were at Lord’s watching the Ashes Test match when they got the call telling them their had been a fire.

Mr Price, who was in the pub garden when the fire started, said: “We’re very grateful to the firefighters.

“There’s a very small amount of damage. The main damage is to the kitchen and there’s some damage to the roof.

“The owners of The Bell have pubs all over Gillingham, Sussex and Surrey but this is their flagship pub and they came close to losing it today.”

Graham Bennett, operations manager, said: “We’ve been in contact with the insurers and assessors and until they ring back we won’t know if the pub will open tonight, tomorrow or in the next few days.”

Station manager Paul Jarvis, said: “We managed to contain the fire to the kitchen. There is some smoke damage but the windows were open so it acted as natural ventilation and took the smoke out and away.

“In all about four rooms were affected. It could have been a lot worse.”