A devastating fire at Sittingbourne’s Dolphin Sailing Barge Museum is being treated as arson.

The popular heritage centre, which contained hundreds of artefacts, photographs, maps and documents was destroyed in the blaze on Sunday night.

Chairman of the trustees, Clive Reader, and supporters are shocked and saddened by the fire which was only discovered when a passer by spotted smoke in the distance, and called in at Sittingbourne Fire Station to report his concerns.

Two engines from Sittingbourne attended at 8.20pm after a search for the fire which was traced to the historic building off Crown Quay Lane.

The crews were joined by appliances from Teynham and Sittingbourne and crews set up a shuttle to get water from the nearest hydrant as the creek tide was out.

Electrical engineers were called to isolate the supply to overhead power cables carrying 11,000 volts.

Firefighters had to make safe propane gas cyclinders before the building collapsed. Crews were on site until 11pm, turning the remains of the building and damping down.

Sittingbourne Police were called whn arson was suspected and a forensic team was on site on Monday to uncover a possible cause of the blaze.

The fire is the latest blow dealt to museum trustees. The museum was broken into and models vandalised in September, and supporters have endured an ongoing dispute with the landlords put its future in doubt.

The former shipwright’s building dates back to the 19th century.

Mr Reader said: "We are in shock. We are reviewing the future of the museum and will be calling an emergency meeting to decide the future of the museum."

For full story see this week's Sittingbourne Messenger