FIRE officers are investigating a mystery blaze at a second Nursling farm.

Forty-three firefighters battled to control the latest outbreak that ravaged through a hay and stray barn at Bargain Farm during the early hours of Tuesday. At one stage the nearby thatched farmhouse lived in by the farm's tenant Ralph Hurst was under threat from the flames which could be seen about a mile way. Fortunately fire crews stopped the fire reaching the cottage.

It came just three weeks after a similar blaze ripped through a store shed at Grove Farm about a mile way.

Tuesday's fire destroyed about seven tons of straw, two tons of hay and four tons of fertiliser along with the large outbuilding at the Hurst's family run farm in Frogmore Lane. A Renault Extra van inside the wooden and corrugated barn was also burnt out. The heat melted a nearby greenhouse too.

Ralph's dogs raised the alarm. "It all shook me up a bit. I didn't go to bed until 12am because I was watching the Mars project on TV. I'd just got off to sleep when my dogs started barking at about 12.30am. I heard a bang then I went straight down the stairs and opened the door and saw flames leaping probably 30 feet into the air. They were as high as the telegraph pole. My house is probably about 50 foot away from the fire," said a shocked Ralph.

He added: "The fire would definitely have burnt the house if it wasn't for the prompt action of the fire brigade in coming. The dogs were very, very good," said the 67-year-old farmer.

His son Keith agreed. Praising Hampshire Fire and Rescue, he said: "If it wasn't for the fire brigade the house would probably have been lost. The fire brigade sprayed water on the house,"

At the height of the blaze fire crews from Romsey, Eastleigh, Totton and Southampton were in action. Six firefighters donned breathing apparatus and specialist heating-seeking equipment was used to pinpoint 'hot spots'. One of the difficulties fire crews faced were possible explosions from butane and propane gas cylinders inside the building. "There was a lot of combustible materials inside, fertilisers and gas canisters. It was well alight when crews arrived," said Hampshire Fire and Rescue's Mike Gates.

Fire control received 18 calls from the public reporting the fire close to the M271.

Last month Pip Gover and her husband were awoken during the early hours of one morning by the sound of a car horn blazing at their Grove Farm home.

"By the time I got out of bed the car had gone. A storage shed was on fire. Fire investigators could not find the cause," said Pip.