THE largest thatched cottage blaze in Hampshire in decades appears to have started accidentally.

Fire service investigators have concluded that a chimney spark was the most probably cause of the blaze that damaged the Potters Heron Hotel in Ampfield last Monday.

At the height of the blaze more than 100 firefighters were tackling the flames.

Staff and visitors were quickly evacuated and no-one was injured in the incident.

Guests told the Echo they were enjoying a meal when they were suddenly told to leave immediately.

Clive Tupin, who lives near the Potters Heron, said: “I have never heard so many fire engines in my life.

"I had just come back from church and followed the fire engines.

"It's such a shame because it's such an old building."

Witness Clive Allen, of Chandler's Ford, said: “I’ve never seen a fire like this.

"I was on my way home but I had to stop to watch.

"It is a landmark.”

One family, who asked not to be named, were sitting down for a meal with their children in the hotel restaurant.

Just as they ordered they were told to evacuate the building by staff.

The father said: "Staff were very efficient and said that we had to leave the building at once.

"We could hardly see any smoke at this point, so real credit to the staff.

"Fire engines came within minutes of us being evacuated. It was quite impressive.”

Cornelia Norie-Miller, who was tending to her horses close to the hotel, said: "I could hear all of the commotion, so I walked down there.

"I saw all of these fire engines, vans and blue lights.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.

"It was just shocking.”

She added: “I go down there occasionally after I’ve finished with the horses.

“It’s a really nice place and a real shame.

“I feel sorry for the owners.”

The hotel's boss, Ludovic Merleix, said he was "grateful" for the emergency services' work.

The hotel famously burnt down in November 1966.

A clipping from the Echo at the time show the then owners, Maurice Hewlett and wife Audrey, escaped over the building’s ballroom flat.

They then climbed down a painter’s ladder, minutes before the building exploded into flames.

Sixty firefighters from Romsey, Eastleigh, West End, Sutton Scotney, Winchester and Twyford brought the fire under control.

According to another clipping from the Echo in January 1969, the rebuilding work was due to be completed by May that year.

Following the latest fire, hotel bosses have vowed to reopen as soon as possible.