FIREFIGHTERS were battling this morning to stop a fire that destroyed thousands of council wheelie bins spreading to an award-winning Gosport museum.

Arsonist were believed to be behind the fire at Priddy's Hard heritage site, that started at 6.30am today.

Four hundred-foot flames were seen shooting into the air above the two sheds, that were earmarked for use as a massive craft and arts centre.

Thick plumes of smoke filled the sky above the site and was seen as far away as Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, as residents were told to shut their windows and motorist diverted away from the scene of the fire.

About 8,500 wheelie bins that were due to be rolled out across Lee-on-the-Solent and Rowner as part of Gosport council's recycling scheme were being stored inside the buildings for safe keeping after a fire destroyed 2,000 of them last week. A council spokesman said the bins, worth £15,000, were being stored outside the buildings but after the fire, the remaining ones were brought inside for fear of further damage.

Conservative councillor for Alverstoke ward Peter Edgar said: "We were on the verge of signing an agreement for the craft and artisan project that would have seen many people attracted to the Priddy's Hard area. We will now have to see what we can do with the site that has been left destroyed."

After tackling the blaze for an hour, firefighters were pulled out of the listed buildings.

There were fears that the buildings were too unstable and could collapse. The fire inside the timber-roofed sheds, which contained the bins - owned by Gosport council - were just yards away from the Explosion! museum that firefighters were protecting with water jets.

A Hampshire police spokesman said: "The fire service are doing what they can to keep the fire away from the museum but it is hard to control and the building is unsafe to enter, so their job is being made harder.

"No one has been injured and fire services are letting the blaze burn out, at this stage we believe it was arson."