One of the Queen's horse trainers was mopping up yesterday after fire swept through his country home near Marlborough.

Richard Hannon, who trained the Queen's Ascot-winning horse Free Agent last year, was not at home when the fire started at 2pm Wednesday.

A member of staff spotted smoke billowing from the house at Collingbourne Ducis and dialled 999.

Six fire engines rushed to the scene and 30 firefighters spent two hours dousing the blaze before it spread to nearby the stables.

It is not thought any horses were affected by the blaze, which broke out in an upstairs bedroom.

Yesterday Mr Hannon, 64, was unavailable for comment but a statement on his website said the fire gutted his bedroom and burnt all his and wife Josephine's clothes.

It read: ''It was lucky that one of the lads who was on his way home spotted the smoke, and he quickly raised the alarm, and, within minutes we had six fire engines coming up the driveway.''

Father-of-six Mr Hannon is one of the most famous trainers in the country and has a total of 205 horses between his two stables in Herridge and nearby Everleigh.

He has trained more than 100 winners a season for the past 13 years and has been training since 1970.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Fire Service said: ''We were called to a fire at 2pm on Wednesday to deal with a dwelling fire in an upstairs bedroom.

''Six appliances attended and spent two hours putting out the fire.''