Farmer Bert Legg has thanked a police officer for raising the alarm after his barn went up in flames for the third time in 15 years on Sunday, in a suspected arson attack.

The 94-year-old, who has lived at Home Farm, in Bishopstrow, Warminster, all his life was woken just after midnight by Acting Sgt Paul Harvey knocking at his door, after he spotted the blaze while on routine patrol.

Mr Legg said: “A police officer had been patrolling near the golf course when he saw the fire and alerted the emergency services. “I had been asleep downstairs and the housekeeper had been upstairs.

“If that officer hadn’t been on patrol it could have been a lot worse.”

He said this was the third time the barn, which contained straw, hay and farm equipment, had been set alight. It went up in flames about five years ago, as well as several years before that.

Mr Legg lives with his son Colin and daughter-in-law Trisha, who run Home Farm bed and breakfast, but are away in Australia.

He said: “My two grandsons were excellent coming over to help sort the farm out on Sunday.

“It was awful seeing the barn go up in flames but I have seen it happen here before.

“Luckily none of the machinery was damaged and nobody was hurt.

“The damage could be around £100,000 or more but it is in the hands of the insurers now.”

Two fire crews from Warminster and a water carrier from Wilton dealt with the blaze.

When they arrived around 500 tonnes of hay and straw in three of the bays were alight and firefighters worked to try and prevent the fire from spreading to an adjacent barn, while farming machinery and a caravan wwere rescued from the other bays.

Firefighters were relieved at 4.30am as crews from Mere and Melksham, and a water carrier from Pewsey and then a fire appliance from Westbury, took over. The operation ended at about 3pm.

Warminster watch manager Chris Trimby said: “There was not a lot we could do to put the fire out as it was well alight when we got there. We just had to make sure it didn’t spread further.”

Inspector David Minty, of Warminster and Westbury police, said a 22-year-old man and a 16-year-old male from the Warminster area had been arrested in connection with the fire, and had been released on bail until January 18.

Cattle led to safety from fire

Dairy cattle were led to safety but 20 tonnes of straw was destroyed after fire broke out in a barn on Monday.

Four fire engines and a water carrier were called to Stowford Manor Farm, near Wingfield, shortly before 3pm. A blaze had started in a large Dutch barn, which housed a herd of dairy cows as well as the 20 tonnes of straw, and had a silo filled with 250 tonnes of barley next to it.

The cattle were led to safety, because of the danger from the flames and smoke inhalation, and the silo was covered with a blanket of foam to protect it from igniting.

Firefighters then doused the straw with water jets, using water from the nearby River Frome, while farmer Philip Bryant was able to move some of the half-tonne straw bales with a tractor.

Trowbridge watch manager Damien Bence said: “The nature of straw, because it’s so tightly wrapped, means the fire could burn for days and days if you left it.

“There is so much combustable material in there and it’s not always ideal to douse it with water, because it’s not ideal for the farmer..”

He said one of their main priorities was to protect the 250 tonnes of barley in the silo and they were also able to protect the main barn structure from being damaged.

The cause of the fire is not known but is thought to have been accidental and Mr Bence said they had not ruled out the possibility of spontaneous combustion in the stack. Firefighters remained on the scene until 10.30pm.