1,500-tonne stack fire visible from M11 in Cambridgeshire tackled overnight by firefighters

Firefighters tackled a huge stack fire involving 1,500 tonnes of baled straw overnight.

They were called to fire off Coploe Road, Ickleton, at 12.16am. The blaze could seen from the nearby M11.

Crews from Cambridge, Linton, Chatteris and two crews from Essex responded and used hose reels to get the fire under control, preventing it from spreading to the surrounding areas. Farm machinery was also used to assist them, and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said it would be “monitoring the stack for some time”.

It follows a summer of field and stack fires amid exceptionally dry conditions that prompted the region to be put officially into drought status.