A political party candidate expressed her concern following a fire near her campaign HQ.

The blaze was just metres from the Sittingbourne & Sheppey Conservative Association building in Periwinkle Court in Church Street, Milton Regis.

Fire crews were called to the scene at noon today (Monday, June 25) to reports of a hedgerow alight, with two fire engines attending.

There were no reported injuries.

While a spokesman for the fire service initially told KentOnline it was thought to have been started deliberately, it later stated this was a mistake and in fact the cause is not known.

Police are also attended and said the fire was “unexplained”.

Conservative candidate for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Aisha Cuthbert, said she did not want to speculate on the cause, but said the incident had left her concerned in light of several incidents during her campaign so far.

She has experienced “aggressive” vandalism of her campaign signs and received “distasteful and misogynistic” abuse on social media, including comments that she should start an OnlyFans page instead of focusing on politics.

Meanwhile, the Tory candidate for Faversham and Mid Kent, Helen Whately, has also seen her campaign billboard defaced with graffiti – an offence under the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

Mrs Cuthbert was on her way back from a tour of Parliament with 50 Sheppey residents when she learned of the blaze.

She added: “The incident is very concerning due to the abuse I have already received during the election campaign.

“We don’t know yet whether our offices have been targeted but we have CCTV which has been given to the police who are investigating the fire.

“We do not want to draw any conclusions at the moment.

“I am happy that all the staff in our building and the surrounding building are all okay and no one was injured.”

The other candidates for the Sittingbourne and Sheppey seat are: Kevin McKenna (Lab), Frances Kneller (Lib Dem), Sam Banks (Green), William Fotheringham-Bray (Reform), Mike Baldock (Swale Ind), Matt Brown (Ind) and Mad Mike Young (Monster Raving Loony).