Fire officers say guests and staff had to be evacuated from a Tunbridge Wells hotel after a suspicious blaze was discovered.

Crews went to The Tunbridge Wells Hotel in The Pantiles at 8.15pm yesterday after a manager of a five-storey building phoned 999.

Guests and staff had to be shown out of the premises as firefighters with breathing apparatus controlled the blaze in a ground floor toilet.

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A search of the entire floor was then carried out with thermal imaging cameras before the smoke and fumes were cleared with a special fan.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "The room was approximately 20% damaged by fire, the rest of the room and ground floor had smoke damage."

Paramedics treated a man in his 70s and police were also called.

WATCH: Guests and staff evacuated. Video: Becca Smallcombe

A police spokesman said: "Kent Police was called at 8.20pm on Sunday, January 28, to a report of a small bin being on fire in a set of ground floor male toilets inside a hotel in The Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells.

"Officers attended along with Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the minor fire was extinguished.

"No injuries were reported. Guests eating within the hotel restaurant were evacuated during the incident as a precaution.

"The fire is being treated as suspicious and enquiries into the circumstances surrounding the incident are ongoing."

The South East Coast Ambulance Service.