A mother pig lead eight of her little pigelts to safety when fire broke out at their Hampshire farm today.

The drama began on the smallholding at Colden Lane, Old Alresford.

Jane the sow barged her way through a wooden wall of her hunt to escape the blaze and eight of her piglets followed.

Firefighters said the 18-month old British Saddleback Jane was in the building with her first litter which was only born five days ago.

Her owner, Mike Hall, had put the pigs in a hut with an electric heater to keep them warm as the nights drew in.

However, the heater caused the dry straw in the building to catch light, firefighters said.

Crews from Winchester headed to the scene, but Jane decided not to wait for them.

Firefighters added that she barged her way through one of the wooden hut's walls, and away from the blaze.

Eight of her piglets followed her lead and left the building, but one was left behind and died.

Hampshire fire and rescue service rural safety officer, Anton Phillips, added: "When we arrived we led the pigs away from the fire and into another pig shed.

"The fire itself was quite a serious one as there was a tree directly overhead."

While the crews managed to extinguish the flames before they spread to the tree, the hut was totally destroyed.

Firefighters were at the scene for one-and-a-half hours.