A COUPLE and their teenage daughter dashed to safety early today as fire ripped through a New Forest pub.

The blaze broke out in a flat above the 17th century Old Mill Inn at Lime Kiln Lane, Holbury, shortly after 3am.

Landlord Gary Rhys, his wife Ros and their 13-year-old daughter Kerrie were woken by their smoke alarm.

They fled the burning building as the fire took hold, destroying their living room and causing thousands of pounds of damage.

The flames are also thought to have consumed about £2,000 that had been

collected for Oak Lodge School, Dibden Purlieu.

Today as he surveyed the damage, Mr Rhys, 43, said the family's smoke alarm almost

certainly saved their lives. "We woke up, smelled the smoke and got out," he said.

"Luckily the stairs were between us and the fire and we were already outside the building when the fire service arrived minutes later.

"At one stage flames were shooting out of the first-floor windows.

"The bar is below our flat, but the barn part of the pub is on a different electrical circuit and will hopefully open today as normal."

Mr Rhys said the blaze was thought to have been caused by an electrical fault.

More than 30 firefighters from Hythe, Hardley, Beaulieu and Redbridge tackled the fire. A fire service spokesman said: "Thank goodness the family had smoke alarms and they were working."