A fire which burned a garage to the ground is being treated as suspicious.

The detached lock-up was already engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived just after 9pm yesterday.

A crowd of young people had also gathered around the block in Davenport Avenue, Gillingham, said crew manager Michael Robins.

“The garage was well alight when we got there,” he added. “It was full of furniture and rubbish which someone had dumped from their house.”

Two fire crews took an hour to put out the blaze using hose jets from a fire hydrant. They also managed to save the flames from spreading to neighbouring garages.