A house fire has been deemed suspicious after children were allegedly seen going inside before it started.

Four fire engines were called to Alexandra Road in Sheerness and crews tackled flames overnight.

Gareth, who lives nearby, said: “We were watching television and suddenly spotted the flames from our window.

“There was a lot of grey smoke and you could smell burning for miles.”

The 21-year-old lives on the street with his parents, who moved to Sheppey around 14 years ago.

He added: “The warm weather doesn’t help, but I think it is because it’s the school holidays and the kids are off.

“Fires in the area have definitely gotten worse and become a much more regular thing.”

Emergency services were called at 5.05pm last Tuesday (August 20) to the residential road.

At the height of the blaze, there were four fire engines and a height vehicle at the scene.

Crews used hose reel jets to tackle the blaze overnight and left at around 5.30am the following day (August 21).

It is understood the house has been empty for 10 years. The adjoining property next door has also been unoccupied for the last year.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, says the smoke was “billowing” out of the property.

He said: “I didn’t realise it was on fire until my own home started filling up with smoke as we had the windows open.

“I noticed it on my Ring doorbell. I couldn’t see out of the camera at all, there was just so much smoke everywhere.”

After the fire was put out he went back through the video history and noticed a group of children entering through the back garden.

“At around 4.55pm I spotted six kids heading in,” he explained.

“Two and a half minutes later they leave and then the fire starts – they definitely went in intentionally.”

He told KentOnline he has previously spotted children smashing windows and setting smaller fires inside.

Pictures taken afterwards show part of the roof was damaged and had fallen through. The front door has since been boarded up.

Just four days before the incident, the old county library on Trinity Road was set ablaze and is being treated as suspicious.

The fire service confirmed that there were no reported injuries from the house fire.

A police spokeswoman added: “The cause has been deemed suspicious and enquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing.”