A high street was cordoned off after a fire broke out in offices above a shop.

Windows were blown out and smoke was seen billowing onto the shops below as part of Sevenoaks High Street was shut off this evening.

According to residents and workers nearby, up to three police cars and three fire engines descended on the street just before 6pm as smoke was seen coming from the window above a charity shop.

One resident, who had been having coffee with a friend nearby, said she spotted smoke coming from the offices as she walked back to her car, parked in the bus station car park.

“It was about 5.40pm,” she said. “The road was closed from Mint Velvet to the crossroads at the beginning of the high street.

“The fire was above the shops so offices were on fire.

“I saw three fire engines and three police cars. There was lots of smoke coming from the building and all the glass had blown out the windows.”

A worker nearby wondered why there were so many people standing around as he left work at Gail’s Bakery in the high street.

He said: “I was walking out of work when I noticed loads of people crowding around on the high street then I saw the smoke coming from the building.”

Kent Fire and Rescue Service said that four fire engines and a height vehicle had attended the scene after being called at 5.32pm. Crews, wearing breathing apparatus, had extinguished the flames by 7.50pm.

There were no injuries and the cause is not yet known, but police said they were not treating it as suspicious.