Farm blaze battled by more than 50 firefighters

More than 50 firefighters battled to bring a blaze at a pig farm under control this morning.

An agricultural building containing several hundred tons of hay in Spooner Row, near Wymondham, is believed to have caught fire around 1am on Sunday morning.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service arrived at Peddars Pig Farm around 3am to find the blaze well under way.

Watch manager Simon Golby, who took over the scene early Sunday morning, said: 'We have been working to get the hay out of the building in order to get the fire under control as there is poor visability inside the building.

'The farm holders have been very helpful by allowing us the use of transporters to help move the materials.

'We will remain on site for a number of hours to come and will be making several visits in the coming days to ensure there is no further risk.'

As well as an estimated two to three hundred tons of hay the building also housed four tractors and six trailers.

The building which is approximately 70m long and 30m wide also sustained severe damage by the fire.

A worker at Peddars Pigs said he and his colleagues helped build the warehouse several years ago.

The farm's livestock were not near the blaze and remained unharmed despite the large amount of smoke which could be seen across the Norfolk countryside.

The cause of the fire remains unknown at this stage and a full investigation will be conducted by Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service.

Appliances from Attleborough, Wymondham, Hethersett, Earlham, Carrow, Hingham, Sprowston, Long Stratton and two water carriers from Hethersett and Fakenham attended the blaze.

The firefighters wore breathing apparatus used main and hose reel jets with compressed air foam to extinguish the flames.

Due to the fairly remote location of the farm appliances had to leave to fill up at a hose nearby and return to combat the fire.

Similarly as the fire service battled the blaze for many hours the crews were relieved early in the morning.