Owners of an American Wild West re-enactment town say they have been given the "motivation to go on" after donations poured in to help rebuild.

The town, which has been used as a filming set for movies and TV, was devastated when a fire ripped through the buildings earlier this month.

Seven fire engines attended the site in Fawkham, near Dartford just before 10pm on November 18 but a lot of the buildings had already been struck by flames.

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is not known.

A fundraising page to help rebuild the town was set up in the aftermath of the blaze and look after the animals and at the time of writing the page had raised more than £13,500.

In a statement to supporters, a spokesman for Laredo Western Town said: "Your kind words of support and donations are certainly giving us the motivation to carry on. I cannot lie, a week ago we were not so sure.

"The whole thing took the wind from our sails, and it really did seem like there was no light at the end of our tunnel.

"As the messages came in and then a local gentleman set up the GoFundMe page, it gave us all hope and inspiration to pick ourselves up and carry on. To re-evaluate and rebuild.

"For this, myself and all the members will be eternally grateful, but we are especially grateful to Giles Harry. A man who had never even visited the town, but could see how much love we all have for it and set up the GoFundMe.

"He is our hero, and our motivation. He is our light at the end of the tunnel, and we cannot thank him enough.

"So once again thank you for the donations and I hope we can reach our target with your continuing help and support."

Laredo was founded in 1971 by western enthusiast John Truder and a group of like-minded history fans.

The town represents the American Wild West in 1865 to 1889 and has been used as a film set, featuring in Blood Moon, Finding Neverland and Red Dwarf, Gunmen of the Apocalypse.

It has 24 buildings including a two-storey hotel, saloon, working blacksmith's and a bank among other sets, all lit by oil lamps and candles.

The statement added: "Our local community has been amazing, not just re-enactors, but my local village as well.

"I never thought the day would come when we needed external help, financially or physically and to those that have commented their support, their donations of time and money I cannot be more grateful."

The Laredo community has started to clear the site to the best of their ability as they look to start rebuilding the town ahead of its 50th anniversary next year.

If you would like to donate to help the rebuild you can access the GoFundMe Page here.https://www.gofundme.com/f/laredo-western-town-fawkham