Around 40 people had to be evacuated from their homes after a fire underneath a block of flats last night.

Medway fire fighters were called to St Albans Close, Gillingham at 9.39pm when the electrical distribution board on the lower ground floor caught fire.

People, including families with young babies, had to stand outside for over an hour while the crews got to work.

The electrical blaze took out all power from the flats, as well has the power for around half of Lower Gillingham.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said: "We believe the board overheated somehow and caught light.

"UK Power arrived and did all they could to reinstate the power to the Lower Gillingham area and the St Alban's flats as well.

"But getting power back into the flats was meant to take a considerable amount of time so we called the Red Cross to come down and help as there were a lot of families with babies who needed to heat up their milk.

"So they came along with hot water and things to help."

Crews left after around an hour and a half and nobody was injured in the blaze.

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