Hunt for arsonist behind farm fires
TWO police forces have teamed up to try to catch arsonists behind four large blazes at farms within the past month.
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Police are liaising with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to track down the criminal.
It comes after an arson attack at a farm in Main Street, Cranoe, in the early hours of Saturday, pictured.
Five fire crews fought through the night to extinguish the blaze, which destroyed 1,000 bales of hay.
Police closed Langton Road due to the thick smoke from the blaze.
A fire service spokeswoman said: “We were called by a passer-by at 3.46am on Saturday to a stack fire at the rear of a farm in Cranoe.
“The fire was started deliberately. The whole stack was destroyed. No-one was hurt in the incident.”
Thousands of bales of straw were destroyed in three other blazes, all started deliberately in barns or at the edge of fields.
The attacks were in Weston by Welland and West Langton in Leicestershire and Little Oxenden, in Northamptonshire.
Officers believe the same person was responsible for all the fires, which have been started late at night or during the early hours, and patrols have been increased in rural areas.
Pc Steve Winn, from Harborough police, told radio station Harborough FM: “This alarms us.
“The attacks have led us to meet with the fire service and Northamptonshire police in a plan to try to combat the arsons.
“We are very aware our farming community is suffering out there and we need to react to this.”