A blaze has broke out next to a railway line causing rush hour chaos.

Southeastern services are disrupted heading towards London from Gillingham train station due to the fire.

Network Rail engineers were called to the site and believe the problem is linked to the third rail which feeds power to the trains.

A spokesman said: “It looks like there is damage to an insulator pot, the ceramic gadget that keeps the third rail off the ground.

“If they are damaged, and the third rail touches the ground, electricity can earth through the pot and cause a fire.

“For safety reasons, we have had to switch the power off to trains on all platforms at Gillingham until we can repair the damage.

“Once again, we are sorry for the disruption.”

By 4.20pm, Southeastern confirmed the line had reopened from Chatham to Gillingham but commuters are warned to expect delays.

Services are still unable to run towards London from Gillingham as the power remains switched off on platforms 1 and 2.

Disruption is expected until 7pm.