A large fire has broken out in an industrial building and people have been evacuated from the nearby area in Kent, southeast England on Friday.

A huge explosion was heard, reported the BBC citing a local resident. It is still unknown whether there are casualties in the fire.

Local authorities said about 200 people had been evacuated, advising others to keep windows and doors closed.

The building was used to store animal welfare equipment and some Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders had exploded in the blaze, according to Mark Woodward, the incident commander for the fire service.