PARTS of North Kent were plunged into virtual darkness as smoke from the burning oil refinery in Hertfordshire billowed across the region.

This dramatic and ominous scene was captured by amateur photographer Matthew Keane on Sunday following the explosions at the Buncefield oil depot in Hemel Hempstead.

The photograph was taken from his home in King Edward Avenue, Dartford. He said: “The first signs of the cloud on the horizon were like something from the film Independence Day.”