A BARN containing 500 tonnes of straw was destroyed by a fire on a Suffolk farm in the early hours of today.

Simon Tomlinson

A BARN containing 500 tonnes of straw was destroyed by a fire on a Suffolk farm in the early hours of today.

Seven teams of firefighters spent nearly three hours tackling the blaze at Chestnut Farm in Gisleham near Lowestoft.

Crews from Lowestoft South, Wrentham, Normanshurst, a control unit from Beccles and a water storage tank from Framlingham were sent to the scene after the fire broke out at around 10.50pm yesterday.

The blaze, which completely engulfed the 30m by 10m barn, also threatened an adjacent building containing a large amount of fertiliser and other chemicals.

Firefighters used jets to cool the building and removed a number of herbicide drums until the farmer arrived on scene with a tractor to help move the rest of the chemicals.

The fire was brought under control at around 1.38am, but crews remained on scene throughout the night to make sure it did not re-ignite.