Motorway service operator Welcome Break will be opening a temporary building at its Fleet Services site on the M3 (southbound) on Thursday March 23.

The move follows on from the fire at the service station in December 2016 which badly damaged the site.

The temporary building will house Starbucks, Little Waitrose, Burger King, Harry Ramsdens, WH Smith, Chopstix, Starbucks Drive Thru, as well as a Shell petrol station, Days Inn hotel and toilet facilities.

Welcome Break chief executive officer Rod McKie said: “We are pleased that the temporary building is to reopen offering an excellent range of facilities to our customers.

“Our new permanent building will soon be under construction to open in 2018.”

Hampshire Fire and Rescue were called out on December 14 at approximately 10.30pm to a severe fire in the restaurant area of the services. At the height of the blaze more than 100 firefighters from Hampshire and Surrey fought to stop the fire spreading through the building.

No-one was injured in the incident, but around 60% of the building was damaged by fire, with the remainder affected by smoke. Crews used six jets, four hose reels and 30 sets of breathing apparatus to tackle the blaze.