VILLAGERS have thanked the fire service for saving their homes after an inferno raged across a field, threatening to engulf a petrol station.

Nigel Moore feared he would lose his home altogether after the fire swept up the field towards his home in Great Witley last Thursday.

The flames licked the edges of a filling station and destroyed two cars and a private garage as the fire was fanned on by the wind.

Some residents reported fighting the fire with garden hoses and buckets of water - until the fire crews arrived and saved their homes.

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As previously reported, eight fire engines were involved in tackling the fire which started in a caravan at the bottom edge of a field before it spread towards houses and the filling station on the main road.

The 68-year-old used a hose to fight the fire as it approached a gas tank in his garden, spraying the hose on the tank itself to stop it from being consumed.

He said: "There was no damage to the tank - how amazing is that? Everybody was down the bottom. It was only me up here trying to keep the gas tank cool. Then they (the firefighters) took over. They came up and relieved me. They were very good.

"I was convinced that we had lost the house. I felt such relief afterwards."

He praised the fire service who had been at the scene all night after the blaze, making sure it did start up again.

He said: "We lost a garden building but our house is okay. There's a gas tank around the back but it survived. The fire came up the field fairly rapidly.

"It came at a fair old pace and once the hedgerow caught fire it just kept going. A garage and two cars have gone down the bottom.

"It took all the electric out down there. All the cottages had no electricity but that was the least of their worries."

He added: "Somebody was smiling at us."

His wife Jean, 73, said: "We were very lucky. That's the main thing. The fire brigade were marvellous. They don't get enough praise. They really were exceptional. They came from all over the place."

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "I feel very lucky. I have an oil tank in here. Should that have gone up I would have been in serious trouble.

"The flames shot up that pole, burning the insulation. I was lucky I had that tub of water down by the garage. I was rushing up and down these steps with the bucket, chucking water across the bottom of the hedge. I was scared that was going to go up.

"I was lucky the fire brigade got here so quickly otherwise I would not have been able to have dealt with it.

"I was definitely impressed by the response. They were here at 3am in the morning in the field. Everyone that came here from the fire service - I thank them for what they did."

By chance, chief fire officer Jon Pryce was the first member of Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service at the scene. He said he was proud of the firefighters who saved 10 houses and the filling station.

The main Esso petrol station and several homes were just yards away from being consumed by the inferno.

The fire came within 15 to 20 feet of Great Witley Filling Station with the wind blowing and driving the spread of the flames.

Mr Pryce, who has 600 officers and firefighters under him, was heading to a meeting when he saw a large plume of smoke rising up near the Hundred House Hotel, Great Witley, on the A443 on Thursday.