A FARMER has told of his devastation after 26,000 day-old chicks were killed in a shed blaze.

The poultry died from inhaling smoke just hours after being delivered to Crakehill Farm, in Crakehill, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

Around 15 firefighters battled to control the blaze late on Thursday night.

The alarm was raised when a detector fitted inside the shed dialled farmer John Flintoff's mobile phone.

He said: "I was away from the farm and got back in 20 minutes.

"There was already flames three and four feet high up the sides of the building.

"I looked inside the building, but there was nothing I could do.

"I rang the fire service and they were here within ten minutes."

Mr Flintoff said he was still in shock yesterday morning.

He said: "I wasn't too bad during the fire, but then I started talking about it to the insurance company and I broke down a couple of times.

"We're well insured, so financially we should be all right, but it's still something we just didn't need."

The chicks had been delivered to the farm earlier that day.

They were due to be kept for six or seven weeks, before being sold to a processor in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Mr Flintoff was expecting a visit from an National Farmers Union loss adjuster yesterday afternoon.

It is believed the fire was caused by a faulty space heater.

Firefighters from Thirsk, Boroughbridge and Ripon attended the blaze after getting the emergency call at 11.35pm.

Phil WhildCOR, fire service manager, said: "It was a localised fire in the corner of the building, which was being fuelled by kerosene from the space heater.

"The fire went undiscovered for some considerable time, but once the fire service arrived it was soon brought under control and fire was prevented from spreading throughout the building.

"The difficulty for us was that the building was made from sandwich panel boards, which make it easier for the fire to spread.

"Unfortunately, the whole shed was completely filled with smoke, which is what killed the chickens."