FIREFIGHTERS across Hampshire this morning stood in silence to remember their hero colleagues killed in a tower block blaze.

Members of Red Watch in all stations across the county observed the two minutes silence to pay tribute to James Shears and Alan Bannon who lost their lives last Tuesday.

There was nowhere more poignant than at St Mary's, where Alan and James - known to friends by their nicknames Burt and Britney - were stationed.

At 11am their colleagues stood shoulder to shoulder with Hampshire's chief fire officer John Bonney to pay their respects outside the station, which has now become a floral shrine to the brave firemen.

Alan, 38, and James, 35, both died last Tuesday evening after the fire broke out at Flat 72 in Shirley Towers, Church Street.

An investigation led by Hampshire's major crime department is underway to establish how the fire started and how both men lost their lives.