by Thom Morris and Dan Bloom

Forty firefighters have been tackling a blaze at a sheltered housing block in Gravesend.

Two people have been rescued from the nine-storey building in Homemead Close, off Parrock Street, near the town centre.

The alarm was raised at 3.05pm and eight fire engines attended.

Lysa Souten, 24, who lives in the block of flats, said: "It was just gone 3pm when the alarm went off and I saw this smoke.

"The fire engines started turning up. The smoke was pretty bad.

"When I got outside I saw two people having to come out the window. It looked like two men. I think they're in their late 20s.

"We weren't allowed back in and, as I understand it, two flats were on fire.

"At the time I was scared. The fire brigade get called here a lot so I just thought it was a false alarm."

By 3.55pm, the fire in the fourth floor flat was out and the number of engines was scaled down to five.

Crews remained and used a strong fan to ventilate the property and get rid of any remaining smoke.

Did you see the blaze? Leave your comments below.