A FLAT fire in a Hampshire city centre took several hours to tackle last night.

Firefighters were called to Romsey Road, Winchester, at around 8.30pm after an oven caught fire.

They arrived at the property, near the Westgate Hotel, to find smoke billowing out of the first floor window and residents outside.

Firefighter Vic Reeves said: "We were there for quite a few hours. The actual fire itself was extinguished reasonably quickly but there were technicalities.

"I think there might have been a slight electrical fault with the oven."