Vandals caused £70,000 worth of damage and destroyed a farmer’s stock when 350 bales of straw were set alight inside a barn in Dunham Massey.
Between 1am and 2.30am on Tuesday April 30, the farm owners were woken by their dog barking and saw that the barn, only a few yards away from the house, was engulfed in flames.
The family frantically tried to save as much machinery from the barn as they could before the fire service arrived – luckily no-one was injured.
It is thought that the people responsible had entered the barn through a field behind the building and police are appealing for information to catch the offenders.
Detective Constable Paul Walls from Altrincham Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We believe this was a mindless act of vandalism, but this reckless act is one that has devastated an entire family, whose livelihood has literally just gone up in smoke.
“It is also extremely lucky there were not far more tragic consequences as a result of this fire, which could easily have spread to the house right next to it where the family were sleeping. Thankfully though, no-one was injured.”
DEVASTATION: Fire ripped through farm causing £70,000 damage
It took five fire pumps and specialist equipment to deal with the fire, which was alight for a substantial period of time.
The blaze was so severe that the majority of the barn will have to be rebuilt and much of the equipment in the building suffered heat damage.
DC Walls said: “Not only has the physical damage to buildings and machinery been estimated to be in the region of £70,000, but the farmer has lost all his stock, which was ready for sale.
“We are determined to provide justice for this family and I am appealing for anyone at all who knows who has committed this crime, or who has any information that may assist with our investigation, to contact police as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at Altrincham Neighbourhood Policing Team on 0161 856 7530 or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
