A workshop containing four scooters as well as several gas cylinders was destroyed in a fire in Chatsworth Road, Bitterne, Southampton, early today.

A Hightown fire crew initially thought they had been called to an out of control bonfire but as they neared the scene, they could see flames rising some 40 feet into the night sky.

They called up reinforcements from the St Marys station and together they brought the blaze under control in about an hour.

The scooters were all destroyed but the cylinders were removed. Another shed in an adjacent garden as well as fencing were also damaged..