MY WIFE and I want publicly to thank the Hampshire Fire Brigade for saving our beloved cottage from being destroyed when, last Saturday, our two neighbouring cottages were gutted.

Our thatch actually touched that of Well Cottage and it is only thanks to the extraordinary bravery of the firemen, including those with their hoses who sat on top of our thatch ridge, just feet away from an inferno, that we did not suffer the same fate. One dreads to think what a sudden gust of west wind might have done.

We are not only grateful but thankful too that none of the 70 firemen in attendance were injured. Later we found out that many of the firemen were in fact part timers who had to return to their normal jobs the next day.

All of us who live in Hampshire can be assured that if ever we were in a similar situation that there is a body of skilled, brave and dedicated men who are there to do their very best to keep life and property as safe as possible.

The firemen for their part were also grateful for the excellent community spirit that sprang to life in Monxton on that fateful evening.

Peter Coldicott, Mill Pound Cottage, Monxton.