After 18 months working from Rochester Airport, the Medway Coastguard mud rescue team moved back into its headquarters in Whitewall Road, Strood.

The team was left homeless after arsonists set fire to the print works next door, which spread through to the Coastguard premises. Now that Strood Fire Station is set to lose its mud-rescue equipment, the Coastguard unit – made up of 12 volunteers – is the only specialist team dealing with mud incidents in the area.

Station officer John Gore said: “Rochester Airport made us very welcome, but it’s good to be back in our own home. The refurbishment has given us much better facilities.”

The Medway team covers a huge area covering the whole of tidal Medway and the Thames up to the Woolwich barrier.