AN INFERNO destroyed a barn and caused more than £20,000 damage.

The blaze started at around 6am on Saturday at Lower Halstead Farm, Thurstonland.

Fire crews from Huddersfield, Holmfirth and Skelmanthorpe were still tackling the fire on Saturday afternoon, several hours after being called to the scene.

The fire swept through a huge stack of baled hay.

For an image gallery of the blaze click here .

Firemen using breathing apparatus managed to prevent the fire spreading to farm machinery stored in the barn, which had to be pulled down.

Nobody was injured.

Farmer Kenneth Hall, of Lower Halstead Farm, said: “It was a barn filled with hay. I spotted it about 6.20am when I was going out to feed the stock.

“My son built that barn himself and that’s what hurts.

“It was filled with £20,000 worth of hay and that’s all gone as well as the building.

“It is well away from the house and there was no danger.

“I think myself that someone has set fire to it. There was some of last year’s hay in there and that would not combust”.