A BUS has been completely destroyed after it caught on fire last night near Dorchester.

Emergency services received five separate calls about the fire which ripped through the bus at 6.44pm last night.

The bus was pulled over by the driver near the A35 Stinsford roundabout on Stinsford Hill, near Dorchester.

Four crews from Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service attended the scene from Dorchester, Weymouth and Bridport. 

A spokesman for Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "It was well alight when the crew got there."

It took four hose reels to extinguish the blaze and fire crews had to inform the water authority due to how much water the service needed to use. 

There were no passengers on board the bus at the time of the fire.

The driver was not injured.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police said the road was closed from 7pm to around 11.15pm.

The cause of the fire is currently not known.