ONE of Hampshire's best known hotels has been at the centre of a major fire drama.

Twenty five fire engines and as many as 120 firefighters battlied the blaze at Potters Heron Hotel.

The fire is believed to have started in one of the hotel's chimneys and spread to its thatch.

According to Hampshire Fire and Rescue, no-one has been injured.

The road beside the hotel, the A3090, was closed in both directions and traffic bosses are advising people to avoid the area.

The hotel famously burnt down in November 1966.

A clipping from the Echo at the time show the then owners, Maurice Hewlett and wife Audrey, escaped over the building's ballroom flat roof.

They then climbed down a painter's ladder, minutes before the building exploded into flames.

Sixty firefighters from Romsey, Eastleigh, West End, Sutton Scotney, Winchester and Twyford took an hour to bring the fire under control.

According to another clipping from the Echo in January 1969, the rebuilding work was due to be completed by May that year.