MORE than 40 firefighters were involved in tackling a huge blaze at a Beefeater restaurant in Kent.

The ground floor and much of the first floor the Hilden Manor in London Road at Tonbridge was gutted and the roof of the 600-year-old building collapsed.

The manager and staff of the restaurant watched in shock as the flames wrecked the building on Monday morning. It is thought the cause was an electrical fault in the bar area. No one was injured.

Firefighters from both Kent and East Sussex fought the blaze. The restaurant is on the border of Tonbridge and the village of Hildenborough.

Whitbread, the company behind the Beefeater chain, confirmed that it was working with other hotels and businesses in the Tonbridge area to re-organise functions that will no longer be able to be held at Hilden Manor.

The company could not give a figure as to the number of functions affected.