Fire at free-range farm blamed on wiring fault

A preliminary investigation has shown a fire that caused severe damage to a Nottinghamshire poultry unit was caused by an electric fault in a vent fan.

It is estimated that up to a 1,000 chickens died in the blaze at the Sherwood Farms unit in Hickling, near Melton Mowbray.

The fire is thought to have started in the roof of the 40m by 60m chicken shed late at night on Wednesday 13 July.

Commenting on the fire, which caused substantial damage to the roof area, a senior Nottinghamshire fire officer said flames were visible coming from the roof of the building by the time firefighters arrived to tackle the blaze.

Sherwood Farms is a free-range egg production unit. There were about 10,000 chickens in the building that caught fire.