A paperweight is thought to be to blame for starting a house fire in Hawkhurst.

It is believed sunlight shining on the crystal object on a window ledge magnified the rays and set fire to curtains in a home in Conghurst Lane.

It broke out at 2.50pm and spread to the frame and lath and plaster ceiling.

Firefighters were at the scene for an hour and a half.

They used a thermal imaging camera and cut away part of the area to check that the fire had not spread.

Now the fire service is warning people to take care when leaving anything on a window ledge that could magnify sunlight onto curtains or flammable materials, after other blazes that started in similar ways.

In June last year a glass paperweight caused a fire in a bedroom in a home in Milton Regis in Sittingbourne.