'Crop fire on first day of harvest is a nightmare'

Rob Hadley discovered a fire in his fields at Chesterton Farm during the hot weather

A Warwickshire farmer has experienced his "worst nightmare" after a fire destroyed part of his crop on the first day of harvest.

Rob Hadley, who owns Chesterton Farm in Harbury, near Leamington Spa, spotted smoke in his field on Wednesday as he began to gather his winter barley.

He quickly identified where the blaze had started and used a fire extinguisher to try to limit the spread, but in the meantime the field also went up.

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service warned during the latest heatwave that a "small ember could cause a huge wildfire".

"A fire of this size you can't put it out, you've just got to stop the feed of it," Mr Hadley said.

He managed to contain the blaze using his tractor as a firebreak, but described how the "tinder-dry" conditions had "exaggerated" the blaze into "quite a substantial fire".

"It was all going seemingly perfect, moisture contents were great, everything was going nicely until a quarter of way into the field, smoke," he said.

"[But] it could have been a lot worse."

Mr Hadley said a "fair patch" of his winter feed, that was already in short supply, had been destroyed and the blaze had made him nervous as he continued to harvest.

He added that his biggest cost would be to repair the machinery that was damaged as he tried to control the spread of fire.

Despite his growing concerns about the UK's extreme weather, Mr Hadley remained positive.

"Everyday comes with its challenges, but truthfully that's what we [farmers] love," he said.