A MAN was fighting for his life in hospital last night after he was burned in a fire aboard a former sail training vessel.

He was refurbishing the Malcolm Miller at the former RAF Hythe yesterday when a blaze broke out aboard the 150ft vessel.

The victim, in his 40s, suffered life-threatening burns to his face, arms, upper body and back.

Air ambulance People living near the waterfront complex, now known as Hythe Marine Park, watched as the emergency services dashed to the scene.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance flew the injured man to the specialist burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital. Last night details of his condition were not known but he is understood to have been badly hurt.

A woman who lives opposite Hythe Marine Park said: "We heard sirens and saw five police cars and two fire engines rushing into the site.

"A short time later a yellow helicopter took off, went straight up and circled before flying off. It looked as if something serious was going on but we didn't know what."

Fire crews from Hythe, Hardley and Beaulieu extinguished the fire, which broke out shortly after 1.30pm.

Police stayed at the scene until representatives from the Health and Safety Executive arrived. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is also involved in the investigation.

A police spokesman said that the Malcolm Miller was being refurbished when the blaze broke out. Witnesses reported seeing a small plume of smoke drifting along the foreshore towards Fawley.

Security staff at Hythe Marine Park declined to discuss the incident.

RAF Hythe, pictured above, which used to service and repair military vessels for the US armed forces, closed in August 2006 with the loss of more than 200 civilian jobs.

Last month it was revealed that luxury boatbuilder Palmer Johnson plans to create 800 jobs by taking over the old RAF Hythe workshops before moving production to Woolston.

The site is a few hundred yards from Hythe Ship Yard, which was badly damaged in a fire last November.

Flames ripped through the buildings but a Second World War vessel, Medusa, survived the blaze.