Huge chicken shed fire 'due to electrical fault'

A chicken shed fire which led to a plume of smoke visible from miles away was caused accidentally, a fire service has said.

The huge blaze on Checkley Lane, near Bridgemere, Cheshire, has been put down to an electrical fault in one of the sheds.

It happened at about 06:20 BST on Friday, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said, with ten fire engines sent to the scene and residents nearby urged to keep their doors and windows closed.

Firefighters said the blaze in an empty poultry shed was about 100m (328ft) by 100m (328ft) and covered about four acres – roughly the size of two football pitches.

A fire service spokesperson confirmed crews used "multiple hose reels and main jets" to tackle the blaze and prevent it from spreading.

People living several miles away, including those in Betley and Madeley, as well as drivers on the M6, reported they could see smoke billowing from the site.

Crews from Shropshire including Market Drayton and Whitchurch stations were also called to the scene.

At its height, about 50 firefighters were in attendance.

Andrew Lewis, from Alsager, said he was on his way home from a night shift in Manchester when he spotted the smoke from the motorway.

"I saw this enormous smoke trail as I was coming down the M6 so I followed it and ended up at Betley Village Hall," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

"From the M6, it looked like an enormous, black, billowing storm cloud."

Local councillor Janet Clowes said she had been invited down to the site once the fire had ben put out.

She said parts of the site had been under an existing containment order after experiencing an outbreak of avian flu late last year.

The sheds had been decontaminated and prepared for a visit by DEFRA officials in order to have the order withdrawn and the re-introduction of poultry in the next few weeks, she added.

Clowes added that the sheds were empty at the time of the blaze.

Clowes said "despite the awful year they have had", those behind the business were "determined to re-start" it "on the farm they have operated for four generations".

She said: "They will now take time to rest and recover from the traumatic events of the past few days."

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