Teenagers are suspected of starting a fire which destroyed about £10,000-worth of hay in a barn.

Police are investigating the blaze, at Hawkcliffe Farm, Steeton, which tore through the roof of the barn on Tuesday evening, wrecking almost 1,500 bales.

Farmer David Thompson says: "Police suspect it was young teenagers. Some were seen coming away from the place.

"It is horrendous, especially coming at the end of such a terrible year. There is so little good quality hay about because of the weather. This lot represents 50 acres of grass.

"The family has farmed here since 1929 and it is the first time we have had a fire."

Mr Thompson still has about 800 bales of silage but he is down to about a third of the feed needed for the winter. Now he faces the problem of where to house his herd of 150 cattle while the rebuilding work on the barn takes place.

Mr Thompson and his son Daniel battled throughout the night dragging bales from the barn as firefighters from Keighley, Silsden, Bingley and Shipley fought the blaze.

Keighley Station officer Arthur Atkinson confirms: "Police are investigating - we suspect it was deliberate."

He says without the help of Mr Thompson and his son the damage could have been much more extensive. The blaze took about three hours to bring under control and destroyed about 120 tons of hay.

Firefighters from Keighley saved the lives of two budgies and a cat who were trapped in a smoke-filled flat. The firefighters freed the two budgies and the cat - called Smokie - from a ground-floor flat in Lancaster House, in Victoria Road.

It is believed that the elderly woman living in the flat had put a pan of potatoes on the stove and left the house. The pan eventually burned dry and filled the kitchen with acrid smoke, which was beginning to filter into the rest of the flat.

Firefighters were alerted to the problem at around noon on Friday afternoon by the housing association which owns the property.

The housing association called the fire station on a special fire line after a smoke alarm in the flat had relayed the problem to them via an electronic link.

An appliance was dispatched to the scene and firefighters dealt with the burnt pan and took the animals outside before ventilating the flat.

Depsite the concerns of fellow residents, firefighters did not find the occupant inside, and they left before she returned to the scene.

Social services have now been alerted to the situation and are assessing the situation before taking any action.

Firefighters from Keighley were called out last Thursday evening to free two people trapped in a lift. The emergency call was received at 7.30pm after the two became trapped between the ground and first floor in Leyland House, Parkwood Rise, Keighley. The two people inside the car were unhurt.

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