The final preparations are being put in place for the re-opening tonight of Mu Mu after a huge blaze ripped through part of the site in Maidstone.

Contractors and staff are dashing around preparing for a limited re-opening at 7pm tonight.

MuMu at 110 Week Street in Maidstone, which houses the restaurant and cabaret site is still in ruins, but club owner Ciaran O'Quigley also owns 108 Week Street which runs adjacent to and behind the main building, and that is where staff are setting up.

Mr O'Quigley, who was in the middle of organising the night, said he would be pleased to see customers back this evening.

"We'll have a great night," he said. "We're calling it 108 at MuMu."

The fire that gutted the next door premises started at around 2.30am on Wednesday, July 14, and took 15 fire crews to contain the blaze.

Most of the building's roof collapsed and piles of rubble fill the inside spaces left exposed. Shocking drone pictures revealed the extent of the damage.

Nikki Waterman who lives in nearby Brenchley House said the fire: "Within seconds just erupted onto the roof."

She added: "It was really horrible just to sit there and watch, and not be able to do anything or help in any way."

An investigation into the root of the blaze by the Kent Fire and Rescue Service found the cause was indeterminate, meaning it remains unknown.

The venue has been owned by Mr O'Quigley for 29 years and made up of four places – FiFi's Brasserie, cocktail lounge the Laundry Room, cabaret club Mu Mu and Irish pub Nellie Gerkins.

The O'Quigley family described the devastation as "beyond words".

Returning tonight are Mu Mu cocktail lounge with R&B DJ Ben Turner, a new Hoochie Coochie Lounge with drag queen Madame Mu Mu and the Laundry Room Prohibition Cocktail Bar.

The fire - on Wednesday July 14 - came less than a week before social distancing rules were scrapped in England to allow nightclubs to reopen.

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone