A FIRE has gutted parts of Fleet services after a blaze broke out last week.

Believed to have been started by an exploding coffee machine at a fast-food restaurant on site, over 100 firefighters attended the scene at around 10.30pm on Wednesday, December 14.

The M3 was shut in both directions for a time overnight between junction 4a at Fleet and junction 5 at Hook due to smoke billowing across the lanes.

The northbound carriageway re-opened a few hours later.

The southbound part of the motorway remained partially closed for some time into Thursday afternoon.

The large crew of firefighters from Hampshire and Surrey battled the flames overnight where they controlled the fire and stopped it spreading to other parts of the services site, while also confirming no one was injured.

The overall damage however was devastating to the Welcome Break operated service station.

Hampshire fire service said: “No one was injured in the incident but there is significant fire and smoke damage to the building. An investigation will be carried out to establish the cause of the fire.”

On Thursday morning, fire officers, once they had contained the fire spent time checking for hot spots and dampening the site to withdraw the risk of any parts of the ashes and timber reigniting.

The Welcome Break chief executive, Rod McKie, said: ”The fire has caused extensive damage to Fleet South. Thankfully none of our staff or members of the public at the site have been injured.

“We are extremely grateful to the firefighters who tackled the blaze and we will assist with their investigations.”

The main amenities building in Fleet South will remain closed until further notice while Fleet North is fully open.