Hay fire at beauty spot put out after 28 hours

It took firefighters more than 28 hours to put out a farm fire at a popular beauty spot.

Crews were at the scene on Hackpen Hill, Wiltshire, from 09:30 BST on Saturday until 13:49 on Sunday to extinguish flames in a haystack measuring about 49 x by 33ft (15m x 10m).

Walkers and cyclists were urged to stay away from the popular area, which looks out over miles of countryside and is one of several hills in the vicinity to have a white horse carving.

"Two main lines, three hose reel jets and farm machinery were used to extinguish the fire," said Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.

No injuries have been reported and Wiltshire Police - who the BBC has approached for comment - were asked to attend the scene on Saturday.

James Hussey, who runs neighbouring Weir Farm in Broad Hinton, said he understood about 250 bales of hay had caught light - causing "quite a loss" for the farmer.

However, no further crops or livestock are believed to have been affected.

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