Firefighters attended a shed fire in Alverstone that was in danger of spreading to a nearby copse.

Fire crews from Sandown, Newport and a water carrier from Ryde were called shortly before 3.30pm this afternoon to Ivanhoe House, Alverstone Road in Alverstone.

Jane Reed, 46, who called the fire servcies said that she feared that it was going to catch the copse alight.

She spoke to the Gazette: “There was alot of smoke and flames. The flames were licking at the branches of the over hanging trees.

My husband Micheal helped another neighbour with a hose pipe from the back garden of the empty house, they were trying to stop the flames from spreading by spraying the trunk of the tree near to the shed whilst we waited for the fire service to turn up.

On arrival they found that neighbours had demolished a fence in order to take water from a garden pond to try and stop the fire from spreading to the overhanging trees.

Alverstone Road was closed for a short time whilst crew dealt with the incident at the rear of an empty house.

The large shed was completely destroyed by the fire. Watch Manager Jeff Pidgeon said: “When we arrived the shed was well alight. Crews in breathing apparatus used two hose reels to knock the fire down and prevent it from spreading to the nearby copse.”