Police step up the hunt for arsonists who sparked a devastating late-night £70,000 fire near Harborough​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Police are stepping up the hunt for arsonists who sparked a devastating late-night £70,000 fire on farmland on the western outskirts of Market Harborough.
The Farndon Fields fire. Image courtesy of David Brennan.The Farndon Fields fire. Image courtesy of David Brennan.
The Farndon Fields fire. Image courtesy of David Brennan.

Northamptonshire Police’s Rural Crime Team are carrying out a major investigation into the blaze off Steeplechase Way on the edge of the town’s Farndon Fields estate.

Over 40 firefighters from all over the area raced to fight the flames after the fire broke out just feet from a massive agricultural barn at about 10.45pm on Saturday June 4.

A Northamptonshire Police spokeswoman told us today that officers are conducting a wide-ranging inquiry as they hunt the criminals who started the blaze.

But they have not yet made any arrests.

The force is appealing for any eye-witnesses or anyone who has information about the incident to call Northamptonshire Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The incident number is 22000320257.

Some 400 empty wooden potato boxes and a stack of vegetable plants were “deliberately set on fire”.

The “raging inferno” also scorched and damaged the outside of the barn, used as a storage warehouse.

Ten fire crews from across Leicestershire and Northamptonshire battled the fire as flames and smoke ripped hundreds of feet up into the dark night sky.

Land-owner Kevin Stokes, who set up Farndon Fields Farm in 1983 and owns the award-winning farm shop on nearby Farndon Road, said at the scene last Sunday: “It is devastating.

“It’s hard to put into words how you feel when something like this happens.

“If this was caused deliberately then it is a very serious crime,” said Kevin.