A new cutting extinguisher was used to tackle a shipping container blaze after burglars set fire to the contents whilst trying to break in.

Firefighters from Medway station were called by police to the fire in St Albans Close, Gillingham, at 8pm last night.

A spokesman for the station said: "Burglars had tried to cut the lock using a welding torch or something similar and set the contents in the container alight.

"We had to use our cobra cold cutting extinguisher to cut through the metal so we could tackle the fire."

The cobra extinguisher allows firefighters to tackle fires inside buildings or containers without needed to enter the area themselves.

A mixture of water and cutting agent is ejected through a special nozzle on the hand-held lance at high pressure which quickly cuts through all known building and construction materials.

The water spray then allows the fire to be fought, as with conventional fire hoses. Because the cobra only creates a small hole, no oxygen reaches the fire from outside, which helps extinguish the fire.

The station has only had the piece of equipment for around six months, and being a specialist piece it is not required to be used very often.

Police were called at 7.45pm to a report of some people acting suspiciously near the shipping.

A police spokesman said: "Patrols arrived and found damage to the container, which is being treated as an attempted burglary. The fire service were called as contents within the container were found to be alight."