Kingsnorth Power Station was forced to stop generating yesterday after a fire broke out on the site.

The blaze happened in a switch room within the station's control structure.

As a safety precaution E.ON, which owns Kingsnorth, shut down the station while fire crews from across Kent put the fire out.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service was called just before 4.30pm on Sunday and seven crews were sent to the station.

Power had to be switched off before firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, were able to start fighting the fire.

Crews also had to use foam instead of water to smother the blaze.

The power station began operating again this morning, with one unit generating power.

A spokesman for E.ON said: "This morning the plant has resumed operations and one unit is generating power.

"The operating of two of the four generating units has been affected by the damage to the switch room and we're assessing the damage before carrying out repairs.

"An investigation into the cause of the fire is also underway."