A SERIOUS fire broke out at a perfume manufacturer's in Tonbridge last night. Firefighters were called to the Deacon Trading Estate in Morley Road shortly before 8.45pm.

They were alerted after black smoke was seen billowing from an exhaust on the roof. Martin Westbrook, leading firefighter at Tonbridge Fire Station, said: "The fire was sparked by a chemical reaction and build up of heat in the processing.

"It spread through the filtration system to other machinery and we had to split the machines up to fight the fire. There have been two or three similar fires at this company over the past seven years because it is a very volatile manufacturing process there."

The crews left the scene after four hours. No one was injured in the incident.