Hay fire at beauty spot burns through night

A farm fire at a popular beauty spot is still burning, nearly 24 hours after it was first reported.

Firefighters remained at the scene on Hackpen Hill, Wiltshire, throughout the night into Sunday morning, attending to part of a haystack which remained alight.

Walkers and cyclists have been 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.

The fire, which was first reported shortly after 09:30 BST on Saturday morning, is still being monitored by one crew to prevent the flames from spreading and will remain at the scene throughout the morning.

In a statement issued on Sunday morning, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said an area of about 15m by 10m (49 ft by 33ft) was still alight.

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 around 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.

Farm machinery, including one tractor from Hussey's farm, were used to create a fire break.

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