PRIZE porker, Arthur - one of the rarest breed of pigs in the country - and his harem of 14 sows, are recovering after their sty was hit by fire.

All but one sow in the herd of prize winning Middle Whites - there are only 223 sows in Great Britain - escaped serious injury.

Raymond Wilson, of Redcliffe Street, Keighley, who rears the pigs with his wife, Brenda, said it would have been a catastrophe had the fire swept throughout the huts on his allotment off North Dean Road, Keighley.

He has praised firefighters for their swift action in tackling the blaze on Sunday night.

The breed originated in Long Lee in 1856, after textile weaver Joseph Tulley worked for seven years to get a successful cross between a large white and a small white.

"These pigs are very rare. They are registered with the British Pig Association Rare Breeds Society.

"They all survived but they are in shock at the moment. Arthur is OK because he was further away from the fire.

"The vet has given them a shot of penicillin and I'm rubbing Vaseline on their backs to ease the blistering. There is just one we are concerned about.

"Six big sows in part of the building could easily have perished but for the fast action of the fire brigade who got to the fire quickly.

"We have been breeding Middle Whites for 20 years - we could have lost everything. I'll be sending them a crate of beer as a thank you."

Mr Wilson, 49, who works for Timothy Taylor brewery, at Ingrow, has registered his herd with the pig association as the Ingrow Herd.

Several of his sows have won prizes at agricultural shows and this summer he plans to show them at the Great Yorkshire Show.

"We hand rear them - they are very affectionate and you can stroke them. They're just like a dog and as intelligent," he added.

Arthur is six years old and weighs about 300 kilogrammes. They can grow much bigger with age. Last year a ten-year-old sow owned by the Wilsons died and weighed three-quarters of a tonne.

Keighley fire service suspect the blaze was started from a spark caused by burning rubbish, believed to have been left by another allotment holder.

Miranda Squire, secretary of the Middle White Pig Breeders Association, said the breed was in a critical situation.

"The breed is in decline. In December last year there were 223 sows in the country - 20 down on the previous year. And the boars were down from 73 to 66.

"A fire like that could have wiped out an important herd, " she said.

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