A BARN blaze which went up like a fireworks display has destroyed two classic cars.Pig farmer John Cousins of Flowton Brook Farm near Ipswich today told of his shock after the barn housing his beloved car collection caught fire at 2.

A BARN blaze which went up like a fireworks display has destroyed two classic cars.

Pig farmer John Cousins of Flowton Brook Farm near Ipswich today told of his shock after the barn housing his beloved car collection caught fire at 2.50am today.

His 17-year-old son Robin said he thought he saw a car reversing from the scene at the time he was woken by the fire.

The blaze which was still burning at 8.30am today destroyed Mr Cousins' Rolls Royce and classic Rover but he saved his precious Landrover, a family heirloom from the 1970s.

Mr Cousins and his three children - Edward, 21; Robin and 12-year-old Amelia - all had to flee the house for a time when it was feared the fire might spread but were later allowed back in.

He said: “It was like fireworks. It was all cracking.”

The Flowton fire was one of two barn fires within 12 hours on Friday evening and early Saturday morning which between them took 50 firefighters to tackle them.

Around 20 firefighters were called to the blaze at Flowton and at 7pm yesterday a blaze broke out at Hall Farm, Church Lane, Copdock which took 30 firefighters to bring it under control.

Horses in a neighbouring barn at Copdock had to be led to safety in case the high winds caused the fire to spread.

Both barns contained dangerous substances including pesticides and fertilisers.

Assistant divisional officer Karl Rolfe of Suffolk fire service was incident commander at both fires. He said: “It was a very busy night for crews.

“It's an unusual night because we don't regularly get two big fires in one night.”

The steal-clad barn in Copdock, which was used to manufacture furniture and stored a large amount of machinery, was completely destroyed by the flames.

ADO Rolfe said: “The barn was in close proximity to stables with horses which was something we took into account.

“It was near collapse when we got there and given the high winds this presented quite a risk. Also water supplies were difficult to find so we had to use a water carrier.”

He said that the barn in Flowton was an open-sided Dutch barn, also steal-clad, which was full of straw as well as machinery.

He said: “There was a farm house which was a barn conversion close by which we had to protect from the fire.

“People living in the barn conversion evacuated themselves then went back when it was made safe, but we put a water curtain between them and the fire.”

The Copdock fire was under control by around 9.15pm last night, while the fire at Flowton was under control by around 4.30am.

No one was hurt in either of the fires and the causes of both fires are still being investigated by Suffolk police and the fire service.

Weblink: www.suffolk.gov.uk/PolicingAndPublicSafety/FireAndRescueServices