Arsonists destroy hundreds of straw bales in a village near Harborough - the third farm fire in two weeks

Arsonists who have destroyed hundreds of straw bales in a village near Market Harborough are being hunted by police.

The offenders struck at a farm in Little Oxendon in pitch-black darkness in the early hours of Sunday September 27.

And the incident comes after a couple of fire attacks at local farms in the last fortnight.

About 16 firefighters fought the latest blaze in a large barn at Little Oxendon Farm on Farndon Road, Little Oxendon.

Four fire crews raced to the scene after the alarm was raised just before 3.45am.

Firefighters tackled the inferno through the night and into Sunday morning as the burning barn filled with hay continued to smoulder.

A stack of hay bales in a nearby field on Farndon Road on the edge of Great Oxendon were also torched just before 7am, police said.

The attacks come after arsonists gutted more than 500 tonnes of straw on Home Farm on Valley Road, Weston by Welland, on Wednesday September 16.

Farmer Chris Parker, 61, was targeted just three days after firebugs destroyed over 1,000 bales of straw at Patricia Walker’s Langton Hall Farm at West Langton – just four miles away.