A lightning strike is believed to have started a roof fire this morning.

Four fire engines and almost 30 firefighters attended the blaze at a property in Sidmouth Road, Welling, Bexley.

The roof of a semi-detached house was partially damaged by the fire.

A spokesman from the London Fire Brigade said: “Residents had left the building before crews arrived and there are no reports of any injuries.

“Crews deployed a 32m turntable ladder as an observation platform.

“This allowed the incident commander to monitor the fire in the roof from above, whilst firefighters tackled it from inside.”

The brigade's 999 control officers took seven calls reporting the fire, with the first received at 7.40am today.

Firefighters had the incident under control by 8.57 am.

It is believed the fire may have been started by lightning striking the roof.