Children and parents on their way to school this morning stared in shock at heap of rubble which had been the garden wall to their community centre.

Firefighters spent hours assessing the damage last night after the wall to the Magpie Centre in Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, dramatically collapsed onto vehicles.

This morning staff at the premises, which is run by the All Saints Community Project Trust in partnership with All Saint's Church, were assessing the damage.

Scroll down for video

Project manager Linda Fiddyment said the centre will be closed today while the cause of the collapse is investigated. The mini-buses do not belong to the centre.

Several emergency crews helped after firefighters were called out at 9.40pm. The wall was around 120ft long and 9ft high, and a huge amount of earth and rubble toppled onto the vehicles parked beneath. No one was injured in the collapse.

Fire technical rescue specialists were brought in to assess the damage, using equipment equipment designed to find casualties in collapsed buildings in the aftermath of earthquakes.

VIDEO: Community in shock as centre wall collapses

Chatham Central ward councillors visited the centre this morning.

Cllr Vince Maple, who is a long-standing supporter of the project, said: "Our thanks go to the police, fire and rescue services who acted, as they always do, in such an outstanding way.

"I'm confident the community will come together to support the Magpie Centre in whatever way necessary moving forward."

The Magpie Centre in the Luton Arches area of the town was formerly the Magpie Tavern and following a £500,000 conversion it was transformed into a hub for the residents.

The beer garden became a vegetable patch where vegetables are grown for the centre’s cafe.

Plans for the centre were first formed thirty years ago but the centre was finally opened by the Bishop of Rochester in September last year.

Fire crews left the scene at around 1.30am.

The cause of the collapse is not known.