A fire tore through a pet crematorium, gutting the building.

Firefighters from around the county battled to control the blaze on Shaftesbury Road in West Stour, north Dorset

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service received several reports of a building on fire shortly before 5pm yesterday.

A crew from Gillingham and two from Shaftesbury were originally called to the scene; a further crew from Sherborne and an aerial appliance crew and supporting crew from Yeovil Fire Station were then requested.

A spokesman for the fire service said: "Due to the number of calls being received to the incident, a fifth crew was mobilised from Sherborne.

"Once the first crew arrived they found the building to be fully involved in fire and so requested the attendance of a water carrier which also came from Yeovil.

"Several officers also attended to undertake the various operational roles required for an incident of this nature.

"An incident command support unit was requested to attend from Sherborne with a supporting appliance from Warminster. Two main lines, three compressed air foam lines and the aerial appliance were used to deal with the incident where unfortunately 30 per cent of the building was destroyed by fire."

According to the brigade, the electricity board was also requested to attend to ensure all electrics to the building were isolated, while police and ambulance crews also stood by.

"At around 9pm the incident was scaled back to two relief fire crews from Mere Fire Station and Sturminster Newton Fire Station," the spokesman added.

"The crews continued dampening down hot spots using a short extension ladder and two hose reel jets.

"At around 11.37pm the incident was handed over to a responsible person, and all crews had left the scene by midnight."