MAIDSTONE: Police yesterday said that the serious fire at Homebase at the Quarry Wood industrial estate in Aylesford may be linked to another arson and an attempted arson.

Officers from Kent Police's major crime department are investigating all three incidents over the Bank Holiday to work out if the same person is responsible.

Police have made an arrest in connection with the arson. Benny Dighton, aged 27, of no fixed address, was charged with attempted arson with intent to endanger life and one offence of burglary at a school in Maidstone.

He appeared before magistrates in Maidstone yesterday and remanded in custody until his next court appearance.

On Saturday, 80 fire fighters tackled the blaze at Homebase at the Quarry Wood industrial estate in Aylesford. Around an hour after that fire sparked, staff at a B&Q store in Larkfield put out a fire in the lighting section. Then on Monday, staff at another B&Q store in Maidstone found materials for a fire deliberately prepared in a wood aisle of the store.