Strood and Rochester Fire and Rescue teams were called to the derelict St Matthew’s School building in Borstal last night to tackle a fire inside.

The call came through around 9:10pm.

8 firefighters across two crews attended the incident, and a breathing apparatus team was also needed.

The crews discovered smoke coming from a vent at roof height.

After gaining entry to the building, a small fire in the main hall was found which had trapped smoke in the building.

The teams used two pumps and a thermal imaging camera to fight the fire.

There have been fires in the building before since it fell into disuse.

The building was formerly home to St Matthew’s Primary School in Borstal, until the school closed in 2005.