Victims of Canterbury's devastating Tannery blaze have hit out at insensitive crowds that have gathered to take photos of the damage.

Fire ripped through the flats complex gutting numerous homes and leaving a large section of the block set for demolition.

Miraculously no one was hurt in Saturday's blaze but at least five households have been left permanently homeless with their worldly possessions destroyed.

Writing on Facebook, one resident evacuated during the blaze has criticised 'nosey' onlookers who have since gathered to peer at the ruins.

Thom Hill wrote on the Canterbury Residents Group forum that he had a "gripe to raise".

"I've only been in this evening and have seen a ridiculous amount of people coming to have a nose," he writes.

"Continuous cars pulling up to the gates, continuous crowds walking up to and leaning through the fencing to take photos of the damage."

Others joined the thread to agree, describing onlookers' behaviour as "disgusting" and "ignorant".

Mark Gaffney adds: "I...can't believe the amount of people that will come and take pictures just so they can show them off.

"I can't even come in through the front entrance of my block due to the debris in front and the way they are leaning through the fence - which is there to keep people out of danger - is ridiculous they don't realise that it is still quite dangerous to get to close."

Town and Country Housing Association, which owns the affected properties, said yesterday that five or six apartments will need to be demolished and their occupants permanently rehoused.

A further ten or eleven have been severely damaged and will require extensive renovations.

Developer Bellway Homes began converting the former St Mildred's Tannery site into a 416-unit housing scheme in 2005.

In a statement released last night, the Newcastle-based company confirmed it had launched an investigation into the spread of the fire.

"All at Bellway are deeply saddened to learn of the fire and the damage to property that has occurred," said the statement.

"We are thankful that there are no serious injuries resulting from the fire and our thoughts are with those residents who may have lost their homes and possessions."

It adds: "Bellway will work with Kent Fire Brigade and all other interested parties and assist where necessary with any investigations into the cause or causes and subsequent spread of the fire."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service said its fire investigators were seeking to establish what caused the outbreak of the fire shortly after 2pm on Saturday.

It said it was focusing on a boiler in an airing cupboard as the likely cause.

Canterbury fire watch manager Sheridan Hudson-Peacock said: "The exact cause had not yet been established but the seat of the fire is suspected to be a small airing cupboard in which there was a boiler .

"The investigation will want to determine how what started out as a small fire in one flat managed to spread so much more rapidly than would have been expected.

"It really challenged the resources we had in the first instance at the scene. I expect that building control at the city council will also want investigate the fire protection measures between the properties and look at the planning details that would have had to have been signed off."

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