Fire has broken out at a building used as a Catholic chaplaincy at the University of Kent.

Crews were called to the building on St Thomas Hill in Canterbury at 2.30am today, with four engines used to tackle the blaze.

No-one was in the building at the time, and around 20 firefighters were used to tackle the blaze.

Fire grips the chaplaincy building.Picture: Mark Jacobs

Firefighters tackling the blaze at its height. Picture: Mark Jacobs

Flames engulf the university building.Picture: Mark Jacobs

Firefighters use a height vehicle to deal with the fire.Picture: Mark Jacobs

Flames were seen shooting up from the chaplaincy building.Picture: Kirsty Gilling

Around 20 firefighters tackled the blaze at the chaplaincy building.Picture: Kirsty Gilling

Fire at the University of Kent Catholic chaplaincy. Picture: Kirsty Gilling

The fire started on the first floor of the three-storey building, which measures around 30ft x 30ft.

A building safety officer has been at the scene assessing how safe the building is, and firefighters were still there early this morning.

Mark Jacobs, 40, of Glen Iris Avenue, witnessed the fire.

He said: "When I heard some noise outside I thought it might have been a fox near the bins.

The aftermath: the university building is badly damaged by fire.Picture: Mark Jacobs

"So I looked out at about 2.40am and there was this brilliant orange light with flames shooting into the sky.

"The fire service were already there by then and they were excellent. They had it under control very quickly and were containing the flames.

"They also got a big rig up so they could put it out from above.

"The firefighters obviously knew what they were doing so we weren't that frightened."

Kirsty Galling had just finished her shift as a door supervisor at the Venue nightclub on the university campus when she came across the fire.

The 32-year-old, of Suffolk Road, Spring Lane, photographed it with her new iPhone 6.

She said: “It was quite an impressive sight in a funny way, with flames shooting up.

“They were going from side to side. As I went back to my other half’s office in Wincheap, I passed more fire engines so I knew it was a serious one and then later they shut off the road.”

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