A WOMAN was taken to hospital and two males were treated by an ambulance crew after fire broke out in a ground-floor bedsit in Godfrey Walk in South Ashford. The property was well alight when Ashford firefighters arrived.

Neighbour Marilyn Monk, 51, said she went outside when she saw the fire through her front window. "Then the house blew up. It was horrible," said Mrs Monk. "There was a big bang and flames everywhere."

Later Kent Fire Brigade said a woman had been taken to Ashford's William Harvey Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Two males had been treated at the scene.

The property was severely damaged.

Another neighbour Michael Brown said he liked the young couple who lived in the bedsit. "They had just got a young kitten. I hope it survived," he stressed.