Astonishing footage has emerged of a fire which raged in a derelict building before spreading to a nearby home.

The clip shows the terrifying ferocity of the blaze, which forced fire crews to evacuate 12 people from surrounding properties in Canterbury Road, Faversham.

It was captured by Ioan Saul, who lives in the street and watched as the flames took hold yesterday morning.

"The whole sky was full of embers and we had to close all the windows to prevent them from coming into our house," he said.

"The smoke filled the whole street at first and we had to back away. The majority of people living here were out in the road, apart from one man who was directly next to the house on fire. "Luckily we managed to get him out, but at that point the fire was up at the top of his house."

Investigators suspect the fire was started deliberately shortly before 3.30am.

Four fire engines were sent to the scene, but on arrival the flames had already taken hold of the building, which was filled with wooden furniture and is believed to have once been an antique shop.

As crews tackled the blaze with hoses and foam, a family from a nearby home alerted them to a fire which had started in one of their bedrooms.

It is thought to have been sparked by an ember which floated in through an open window, but was quickly extinguished by firefighters.

No one was injured and crews left the scene at about 5am.

The derelict building was completely destroyed.