FIFTY fire fighters battled overnight in a bid to save a country cottage at Lytchett Matravers.

Narrow Sandy Lane was filled with nine appliances and support vehicles as crews tried to prevent thatched Holly Cottage from being destroyed.

The alarm was raised from the isolated home on Friday (November 9) at 10.26pm by the owners.

A crew from Hamworthy was on the scene in nine minutes and was joined by fire fighters from Poole, Wimborne, Wareham and Westbourne.

They managed to cut fire breaks in the thatched roof but the flames leapt across, driven by the wind.

A devastating scene greeted the owners when they arrived back at the house on Saturday morning (November 10).

"Thatched fires are difficult to deal with," said Mike Parkes, watch manager from Ferndown, whose relief crew arrived at 6am.

"When a good fire has developed it is difficult to put out. There were around eight crews at the height of it," he said.

A water tender was required and crews used 30 breathing apparatus sets fighting the blaze, which had taken hold of the roof and first floor.

They managed to salvage much of the contents of the pretty two-storey whitewashed cottage.

But the thatched roof was destroyed as was much of the upper floor while the ground floor of the cottage, which looks out across the Dorset countryside, was smoke damaged.

Piles of thatch, pulled down from the roof where it is believed the fire broke out, littered the verge.

"We are devastated at the moment," said a woman at the cottage.

The cause of the fire was being investigated by an officer from Dorset Fire and Rescue Service.