A MEDIEVAL Winchester building was saved by firefighters.

Three fire engines were called to The Chesil Rectory restaurant in Winchester the early hours of Sunday after the fire alarm went off due to an item left on the cooker.

Two firefighting crews from Winchester and one from Eastleigh were called to the scene in Chesil Street.

They forced their way into the 15th century building and cleared the smoke with a positive pressure ventilation fan.

A spokesperson for Winchester Fire Station said: “The whole building was full of smoke and we had to gain forceful access to the building, it happened to be an item left on the cooker which was on fire, thanks to our intervention we managed to stop it catching fire.

“It could have been a lot worse, if we had not got there sooner it could have caused a lot more damage than it did.

“It really shows the importance of smoke alarms and not leaving stuff on cookers, and also having a nearby crew to deal with the incident.”

The incident happened at 4.10am and the stop call was at 5am.

A spokesman from the restaurant confirmed it opened as usual yesterday.

The restaurant tweeted: "Thanks for your concern. Due to @Hants_fire quick response to smoke alarm, a potential fire was avoided, no damage. We are open as normal."