A fire that ripped through a Homebase store in Kent at the weekend is being investigated as suspicious, along with the possibility of a link with another fire half an hour later at a local B&Q.
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The alarm was raised shortly before 1pm on Saturday and the store was evacuated safely. At the height of the blaze about 90 firefighters attended the scene at South Aylesford Retail Park in Kent. However, the fire could not be brought under control swiftly enough to prevent it spreading to the adjacent Carpetright store.

The blaze was finally brought under control at about 9pm and the area around the store cordoned off to allow the other shops on the park to open as usual.

Police are investigating a possible link with a small fire at nearby Larkfield B&Q which staff managed to bring under control themselves about half an hour after the Homebase fire started.

Speaking to DIY Week this morning, a Homebase spokesman said: "We can confirm that a fire broke out in the Homebase store in Aylesford at 12.40pm on Saturday 1 May 2010. Due to the damage incurred, the store has ceased trading.

"Homebase colleagues acted swiftly to evacuate the store. We are proud of their professional approach and ability to apply the correct safety training procedures in difficult conditions.

"We believe that all colleagues and customers were safely led away from the store at the time of the incident.

"The cause of the fire is the subject of an investigation by the appropriate authorities and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage.

"Our main priority has been to provide support for those who have understandably been upset by this incident. It is our intention to relocate all of the store colleagues to other Homebase stores in the local area."

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