The offices of two Island businesses were destroyed in an electrical blaze which took firefighters almost four hours to tackle.

Four fire crews from Sheppey and Sittingbourne were called to the fire in a three-storey building in High Street, Blue Town, at 3.23am on Monday.

KRS Interiors occupies the ground floor of the building and Astral Building Contractors has its office on the first floor. The second floor is vacant.

The fire is thought to have started in electrical equipment on the first floor.

A member of the public called 999 after seeing smoke coming from the building.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said the first floor was well alight by the time they arrived and crews with breathing apparatus were sent in to tackle the blaze.

By 5am the fire was under control and at 5.30am, engineers from UK Power Networks (formerly EDF) arrived to isolate the power supply.

At 6.15am, firefighters were reduced to two pumps and it was out an hour later.

Paul Houghton, director of Astral, said there was smoke damage throughout the building and the first floor was badly affected, with printers, photocopiers and office equipment being destroyed.

He said: “It’s a very unfortunate incident.

“Both businesses have been very busy so it’s inconvenient.

“The firefighters have done a really good job.”

Roger Pieri, one of the directors of KRS, added: “It’s upset our routine – we are very busy and we have had to put some jobs back a little which doesn’t help anyone but there’s nothing else we can do.

“No one was hurt so we have to look at it like that.

“I would like to thank the firefighters for their prompt action and the person who raised the alarm and everyone concerned.”

Mr Pieri also said if it wasn’t for a fire-proofed suspended ceiling which KRS installed in Astral’s office just before Christmas, the whole building could have been destroyed.

Both businesses will be setting up office elsewhere so they can carry on as usual.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious.