Smoke billowing from fire at Sheerness Docks. Picture: Jeff Foreman

by Lewis Dyson

A fire broke out at Sheerness Docks this morning - at the same warehouse gutted by a huge fire just three months ago.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service was called at around 8.10am to a decommissioned cold store unit in Garrison Road in land owned by Peel Ports.

Three crews were sent to the site, where panels made of polystyrene and aluminium had caught alight.

Firefighters managed to surround the fire, which was contained to one tonne of the composite material.

They used breathing equipment and water jets to extinguish the flames by 9.05am.

Plumes of smoke could be seen across Sheerness. Picture: Graham Havill

Contractors from the docks removed debris to assist the fire fighting.

Crews remained at the scene making the area safe and there were no reported injuries.

A spokesman for Peel Ports said: "At the time of the fire contractors had been working on decommissioning the warehouse, and it was empty of stock.

"There were no injuries and no damage was caused to adjacent stock or facilities.

"Port authorities are working in partnership with the Kent Fire and Rescue Service in order to establish the cause of the blaze, which is not thought to have been suspicious."

A larger scale blaze broke out in Sheerness Docks on January 14 where the same kind of composite material caught alight in a warehouse.

Two people were sent to hospital as 50 firefighters tackled the flames after it started in a warehouse within the port and sent plumes of thick smoke billowing into the sky.