A cordon is thrown around Morrisons in Strood

A supermarket was evacuated today after explosive fuel leaked from a van.

Firefighters set up an exclusion zone after the Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) leak at the Morrisons petrol station in Knight Road, Strood.

The garage, supermarket and car park were evacuated and shoppers were told to leave the surrounding area for about an hour, firefighters said.

An 11-year-old maroon Ford Transit van with "glass" written on it sparked the alert at 8.55am when it went to fill up.

Fire crews said the owner apparently filled the tank with up to 25 litres of LPG without realising there was a rupture.

A fire service spokesman said: "LPG is very volatile so we decided to set up an exclusion zone of at least 100m."

Crews allowed the LPG to leak into the air from the crack in the tank and cleared the rest using a high-pressure fan.

The van driver, who did not want to be named, said: "I filled up the tank, it developed a rupture and it's fixed now. That's about it."

The supermarket and car park reopened by 10.15am.