15121/1POLICE are investigating a suspicious blaze that destroyed 150 tonnes of straw, valued at between £4,000 and £5,000, in a Dutch barn at a farm in Coate, near Devizes, at the weekend.

Firefighters from Devizes were called to the blaze in the barn owned by farmer Richard Hibberd of Calcote Farm, shortly before 1am on Saturday.

Station officer Philip Flowers said: "By the time we got there about 50 per cent of the straw was involved and there was little we could do to stop it reaching the rest of the material.

"There was no electrical connection to the barn or anything else to cause it to catch fire, so we are treating it as suspicious."

The retained firefighters stayed to damp down the embers until 6pm on Saturday and Mr Flowers returned to the site at regular intervals until 1pm on Sunday to make sure that the blaze was completely out.

He said: "The trouble with fires like this is that the straw itself is worth next to nothing, but if the farmer wants to replace it, it could cost him up to £25 a tonne to do so."

Mr Hibberd said he suspected that youngsters were responsible for setting fire to the straw, though he admitted he had no firm evidence for saying so.