THE police force are hunting for a phone ‘bomber’ after two Hampshire village booths were targeted in the early hours of the morning.

Residents were left terrified and suspecting a bomb had gone off after hearing an ‘almighty bang.’ People rushed out of their homes at 3am in Bishop’s Waltham to find a telephone box engulfed by flames after hearing an explosion.

Now police are calling on witnesses after discovering a collection of aerosol cans and a firework inside the box in Bishop’s Waltham as well as receiving reports of a similar incident in Upham.

It is believed that witnesses spotted a group of people running from the Bishop’s Waltham scene after the explosion and residents in Upham reported that their phone box had been completely destroyed overnight.

Residents near The Avenue and Winchester Road woke early yesterday morning after hearing the bang and were without electricity for 20 minutes as firefighters worked to make the scene safe.

The phone box was discovered alight at 3am and Hampshire Constabulary is appealing for information.

A spokesman for police said: “We were called to The Avenue in Bishops Waltham just after 3am on February 23 to reports of damage to a telephone box. On arrival officers found the wooden door of the telephone box on the floor and some of the windows shattered.

“Initial investigations with colleagues from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service suggest that some aerosol cans and a firework had been placed inside the telephone box and lit.

“Fortunately no one was injured in the incident and no further damage was caused outside of the telephone box.”

The spokesman confirmed that they had also been contacted about a similar event in Winchester Road in Upham outside the old Post Office and they believe the incident happened between 6pm on February 22 and 8am on February 23.

A spokesman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said that a crew from Bishop’s Waltham Station were sent to The Avenue.

The crew was on the scene for 20 minutes making sure the area was safe and the spokesman confirmed that there would be a fire investigation into the incident which could take up to 24 hours.

One resident, Chris Barfoot ran to the Bishop’s Waltham scene to find out what the sound was and told the Chronicle that at first he thought the village had been bombed.

He said: “There was an explosion, it was very nearby. I went outside, a neighbour joined me. There was a smell of gunpowder and debris flying in the air. We got to the street, the red phone box which hadn’t been used in 10 years or more was ablaze and a power cable had severed during the initial explosion, it was arcing across the street. The whole thing was rather dramatic and surreal."

“A group of us gathered on the path. It was unnerving.”