Farm fire kills 21,000 chicks in Preston

The chicks were being kept in a single 1,400-sq-m building

An estimated 21,000 chicks have died in a fire at chicken farm in Lancashire.

The animals were in a single building at Tom Barron Limited in Rosemary Lane, Preston, where the fire broke out after 20:00 GMT on Tuesday.

Five fire crews were sent to the blaze but were unable to save the birds.

A spokesman said: "Sadly we couldn't get to the chicks. The crews had to work quite hard to prevent the fire spreading to another building which had large liquid petroleum gas cylinders."

Crews continued to damp down the area on Wednesday morning.

The cause is not known but it is not thought to be suspicious, the spokesman added.