A fire which broke out in a garage is being treated as “suspicious”.

Firefighters were tackling the blaze in Short Street, Chatham, this morning (October 11).

Initially, four fire engines were at the scene and crews, wearing breathing apparatus, were using hose reel jets, main jets, and water from a hydrant to battle the flames.

By 10.10am this had been scaled back to three fire engines and a height vehicle and by 11.20am crews had left the scene.

No injuries have been reported, and the cause is not yet known but police officers are treating it as “suspicious”.

Chatham resident Angela Louise Fox said she first knew about the fire at around 7.25am when her husband left for work and called her when he saw it.

She said: “My son and I walked down a few minutes later. It was fully ablaze by then and the first fire engine had just arrived on the scene. While we were there we heard a few explosions.

“I took my son to school and went back at about 8.45am. It looks like it has been contained in the garage.

"The first time I was there, they were putting the hoses away but when I went around again they had got them back out and were spraying water from above. I am guessing they found some hot spots or it may have re-ignited.”

Another nearby resident Michael White added: “I opened the door at 7.20am to see what the weather was like and was taken back by the smoke that was up and down the road.

“I saw the big blaze from the top of the building. The smoke went on for about an hour, it was just billowing and billowing.

“People could not walk along Luton Road because the smoke was atrocious. It was quite scary because you do not often see that amount of smoke.”

Businessman Drery Karin, who rents the garage and uses it for storage, said he got a phone call it was on fire this morning while he was getting his son ready for school.

He said it is the second time the building has been ablaze and is calling for action to make the area safer. He added: “It is not safe for the community here.

“I cannot understand why this is happening. I am worried because it is dangerous. I love this shop but it is not safe for the community.”

His landlord Gurpal Singh Dhadwal, who has owned the building for 10 years, added: “I was totally in shock when my wife called me this morning to tell me. I cannot think, it is horrible.

"Finacially, I do not know how much it will cost to sort it out. We will have to knock it down and rebuild it so it will have an impact on us.”

People living and working in the area were being advised to close windows and doors due to the smoke and asked to share this information with loved ones who may not have access to the internet.

This advice has since been lifted.

Police officers and ambulance crews were also in attendance.

Short Street and Luton Road near Hare Street were closed to allow the emergency services to deal with the incident but have since reopened.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing over the top of the houses across Chatham.