POLICE are investigating a blaze at a hay barn which took 30 firefighters to bring under control and more than 20 hours to extinguish.

The fire at Broadhead Farm in Ramsgreave, Blackburn, which started around 9.10pm on Sunday destroyed 600 tonnes of silage and 25 tonnes of straw.

Crews from Blackburn, Accrington and Great Harwood battled the fire throughout the night and were still dampening down the final flames yesterday along with a crew from Darwen.

Station Officer Kevin Gibson, of Blackburn Fire Station, said the source of the fire was unknown but was being treated as suspicious.

He said: "We received more than 20 calls about this fire as it was quite a spectacular blaze and could be seen half way across Blackburn.

"We had to stop it spreading to additional farm buildings but the actual barn was more or less destroyed when we got there.

"There was also a danger to the firefighters because of the risk of burning straw and silage falling from a height."