Lambs and cows rescued from lambing barn blaze in Lancashire

The venue should reopen at the weekend

A barn where the public watch the arrival of new born lambs had to be evacuated during a major blaze.

Eight fire engines from Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service including a mobile command unit tackled the fire at Mrs Dowsons Farm in Clayton-le-Dale.

Farmers called the emergency services after nearly 40 tonnes of straw bales, used for bedding animals, caught fire late on Monday evening.

The farm owners said this was "one of the toughest days" in its history.

Animals in nearby buildings were taken into fields as firefighters and the farmers tackled the blaze using tractors to pull apart stacks of straw bales away from the barns and buildings.

A farm statement said: "The remarkable efforts from our family, farm team and the emergency services meant the fire was extinguished as quickly as possible.

"Farmers were able to evacuate lambs from the Lambing Live barn as well as the farm's own dairy herd to safety.

Cows and lambs had to be evacuated from the barn on Monday night

"The work now begins on rebuilding animal pens and barns at the rear of the working farm as well as relocating some of the Lambing Live event which opened on Saturday and runs until 19 May.

"The cause of the fire is currently unknown, but we will be working to investigate over the coming days and weeks. We would again, like to thank the emergency services for their swift response."

'Spontaneous combustion'

The farm's management said spontaneous combustion - where they can ignite without an external heat source - in bales was a known phenomenon.

"Moisture content is the main factor that causes hay and straw to spontaneously combust.

"Hay fires are more common than straw fires, for reasons involving the type of forage, the moisture content in the stored forage, and heat production."

The farm park is due to reopen as normal this weekend.