A HUGE pall of smoke hung over a Kent town after a field of rape seed went up in flames.

Forty firefighters tackled the blaze off Quinton Road, Sittingbourne, and managed to stop it spreading to neighbouring Quinton Stores, which had to be evacuated.

Smoke drifted across the road, which was shut for several hours.

Kevin Ford, crew manager at Sittingbourne Fire Station, said: "It took about an hour to bring under control and we needed eight fire engines to tackle the blaze, which was about 50 yards from Quinton Stores at one stage, but we managed to stop the flames spreading to the building.

"We believe the fire could have been started by a carelessly discarded cigarette. There is a public footpath which runs through the middle of the field. But we are not ruling out that it could have been arson."

Sharon Austin, from Quinton Stores, said: "We would like to praise the firefighters for stopping it spreading."

The fire started at 1.30pm on Tuesday.