EMERGENCY services prepared themselves for a major incident after being called to deal with a blaze and a succession of explosions at the old Redland tile works at Upper Timsbury on Tuesday afternoon, where two men were arrested near the scene and later released on police bail pending further enquiries.

It developed into such an inferno that the Romsey and Eastleigh firefighters who dashed to the scene won high praise from eye-witness for their bravery. The alarm was raised by resident Sylvia Subramanyam after she heard "an enormous explosion" which was followed by a "huge pall of black smoke" billowing from a collection of derelict Nissen Hut-type buildings.

A further succession of at least ten explosions prompted the services to make arrangements for dealing with a major incident, with the Fire Service ready to send in additional appliances.

Police also made arrangements with Michelmersh and Timsbury Parish Council to use the Jubilee Hall if there was any large scale evacuation of the area and an ambulance, a smaller rapid response vehicle and an immediate response doctor were quickly on the scene.

In addition, engineers from Southern Electric were called to the scene and a local farmer made a field available as a marshalling point - because of the narrowness of Rudd Lane - in case more vehicles were needed in addition to around 15 involved in the initial response.

As it turned out, there were no casualties. But Romsey-based Inspector Peter Funnell said: "We received a call that there had been an explosion and when our units arrived all they could see was a thick pall of black smoke. "We had to establish what we were dealing with and our main concern was for the safety of nearby residents and of anyone who was on the site. The occupants of two nearby properties were evacuated along the road for a short period of time.

There are indications that an electrical fault has been ruled out because the power was not connected. Inspector Funnell confirmed that two men were arrested near the scene.

"They were arrested in the vicinity and taken to Eastleigh Police Station to help with our inquiries. We are trying to establish whether they had a reason to be in the area.

"We will now carry out a thorough investigation of what is left at the scene and our officers will be liaising with investigators from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service." In all, there were three fire engines plus a water carrier and 17 firefighters at the scene and Antony Hurle, crew manager at Romsey Fire Station, said: "When we arrived, we were faced with a serious fire incident with several small explosions.

"Also, because of the presence of overhead power lines above the site and the possibility of the presence of cylinders in the sheds we could not commit crews to the immediate vicinity straight away."

He added that on their arrival, the Southern Electric emergency crew isolated the overhead cables and ensured there was no electrical hazards within the crumpled complex of huts and sheds.

Once that had been done, jets of water from the Service's water carrier - there was no supply available to the firefighters on the site - prevented the fire spreading. The explosions and the fire were first heard by near neighbours Doctor Muniswamiah Subramanyam and his wife, Sylvia.

Mrs Subramanyam said: "It was about 12.30 to 12.35pm and I was out in the garden. I heard enormous explosions and I wondered what they could be. Then I heard another one at about 12.40 and I saw black smoke.

She said that at first she thought that demolition work was beginning on the buildings as the site has recently been controversially granted conditional planning permission for a development of 30 new houses. But she dialled 999 when a huge pall of smoke came billowing up from the huts followed by flames leaping between 20 and 30 feet into the air and further explosions boomed out across the countryside. She paid tribute to the courage of all the emergency services. "When you have heard those explosions and you see them going in, you don't know what they are going to be faced with, what is exploding or whether they are going to lose an eye or an arm. They were very brave," she told The Advertiser. Her husband renewed his concerns over the site's suitability for significant residential development in the light of the location and the narrow and winding nature of its Rudd Lane approach road. "The approach road for emergency vehicles is diabolical and if there was a house on fire there, someone could have been burned to death before they arrived. "Test Valley Borough Council should have thought about this before it granted planning permission. People in Rudd Lane opposed the housing because the access is very bad," he said.

Mrs Subramanyam said it was lucky they were at home at the time of the explosion and were able to unlock the gates to their property to allow emergency service vehicles to use their drive as a passing place.