SCORES of firefighters from two counties converged on the New Forest last night in a bid to save a blazing cottage.
The blaze broke out in a two-storey property in Poplar Lane, Bransgore, shortly after 8.30pm.
Some 86 firefighters from 11 stations in Hampshire and Dorset raced to the scene.
They managed to create a break in the thatch, but were unable to prevent the fire destroying 70 per cent of the roof. A witness said today: "The blaze appears to have broken out in the vicinity of the chimney.
"The firefighters did very well to prevent the fire spreading the entire length of the cottage. They saved a big portion of the thatch and the cottage itself, including a lot of the roof timbers."
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