AROUND 50 hay bales were destroyed in a fire near Semley Common.

Firefighters were sent to the scene at just after noon on Wednesday (October 26), the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

Credit: DWFRS

Two crews from Shaftesbury and a Land Rover pump from Blandford attended the incident and found ‘a large stack of approximately one hundred bales of hay with about half of these involved in fire’.

“A request for assistance was made for an additional fire appliance and a water carrier,” a spokesperson said.

“Another fire crew was mobilised from Gillingham and a water carrier was sent from Wilton.”

Throughout the afternoon, firefighters were using two main jets, with a further hose reel jet and the assistance of two farm tractors, in order to fight the blaze.

Later, Shaftesbury Fire Station said the fire would ‘burn out under control’.

“If you’re concerned, please keep doors and windows closed,” a spokesperson said.