IT was like a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster.

Thick black smoke billowed from the smouldering engine as two men rushed to remove items from their van.

Seconds later a series of explosions ripped through the vehicle blasting it into an inferno.

Onlookers sheltered from the heat of the raging fire while flames licked up around the surrounding trees.

But far from being the set from the latest action movie, this dramatic scenario unfolded in the peaceful New Forest countryside.

Two workmen had pulled their van over to the side of Gorley Road between Ringwood and Fordingbridge when they noticed smoke coming from the bonnet.

They quickly removed tools from the back of their van just moments before the vehicle was engulfed in a ferocious fire.

In the minutes running up to the blaze, Daily Echo reader Martin Bennett pulled over to ask the men whether they needed help. He then captured the drama as it unfolded yesterday morning.

He said: "Their lives could have been at risk if that thing had gone up earlier.

"It was dramatic - you have only got to look at the pictures.

There was a lot of black, billowing, toxic smoke as well as the flames.

"It all happened so quickly and it just so happened that I had a camera on me at the time. It all went up in five minutes.

"I thought they were taking a bit of a chance because it could have exploded at any minute."

A retained team from Fordingbridge spent nearly half an hour trying to put the blaze out and needed breathing apparatus.

A spokesman from Hampshire fire service said nobody was hurt during the incident.