THEY travelled in their masses for a weekend of partying and music.

But dozens of festivalgoers are waking up with smoke in their nostrils and no ride home after a fire destroyed around 80 cars at BoomTown Fair.

Investigators are today establishing the cause of a blaze which tore through a car park at the festival near Winchester.

No one was hurt in the fire, which took hold at around 4.15pm and burnt for over an hour. The festival's 'Boomtique' campsite was evacuated while six pumps battled the flames.

A spokesman for BoomTown said the affected cars were in the West Car Park and would have arrived between 10am and 11am.

Huge plumes of black smoke were visible across Matterley Bowl and from as far as Winchester city centre, four miles away.

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The dance and reggae festival, which attracts 60,000 people, continued as the drama unfolded and is open today, though revellers are being told to avoid the area.

Crews from Winchester, Eastleigh, Redbridge, St Mary’s, Alresford, Beaulieu and Bishop's Waltham attended and had the fire out by 5.55pm.

Paramedics were on the scene but have not reported any casualties. South Central Ambulance Services hailed the "great joint working from all emergency responders".

The fire is the latest incident to mar the festival at the Matterley Bowl, near Winchester, Hampshire, in recent years. In 2014 a 31-year-old woman died in hospital after being found slumped unconscious in a toilet at the festival.

The previous year Oxfam steward Ellie Rowe, 18, from Glastonbury, Somerset, died at Boomtown after taking the horse tranquilliser ketamine.

On Friday firefighters stood among row after row of burnt-out vehicles for their debrief, with festivalgoers barred from the area until the flames are dampened down.

Hampshire Constabulary are set to assist with the investigation. It will take "a few days" to establish the cause, a fire service spokesman said.

A BoomTown spokesperson said: "Areas close to the fire within the festival were evacuated as precaution. All of these areas have been assessed and have been reinstated for public access. The West Car Park will remain closed until the investigations by the fire and police services have been concluded.

"At this stage no cause of the fire has been established.

"Boomtown Fair event management team are working to identify and support all festival goers whose cars may have been affected.

"No festival performances have been affected by the incident and the weekend events are continuing as planned."

"The immediate, rapid and co-ordinated response by our staff, contractors and agencies resulted in the swift containment of this incident to the car park area only.  There are no reported injuries and we are assisting the fire investigation team and the police with all their inquiries. Anyone affected by this fire will be fully supported by our welfare and event staff."

BoomTown does not sell single day passes, so only a handful of ticketholders required travel out of the festival last night.

Dozens of music fans were searching for last-minute tickets on social media last night despite the drama.

The incident caused huge delays on the A31 and surrounding roads as motorists slowed down to look at the smoke.

Revellers started arriving on Wednesday for the five-day bash near Alresford, which enters its second full day of music today. This year's headliners are Madness, Damian Marley and Leftfield.