by Harry Low

hlow@thekmgroup.co.uk

Thirty firefighters were needed to tackle a blaze behind a disused shop in Gravesend.

The fire, which is thought to have been started deliberately, took crews more than 45 minutes to put out.

Two crews from Thames-side and one each from Dartford, Maidstone and Strood attended after receiving a call at 5.17pm on Friday.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "We believe it was started deliberately and are treating it as suspicious."

John Cheema, 51, owns Cheema Fabrics next door to where the blaze broke out. He said: "I've never seen a fire like it except on television. It pushed me back inside.

"If it had happened in the middle of the night you could have been looking at a different story.

"This could happen again and again unless they put cameras in."