FIVE fire crews were called to a report of a major barn fire near HMP Dartmoor in Princetown at the weekend, which police are treating as arson.

The substantial fire took hold of a large 20m by 50m shed, adjacent to the prison, containing 350 large bales of hay, 80 large bales of straw and sheep shearing equipment at around midnight on Saturday/Sunday September 3/4. The fire destroyed 50% of the building and its entire contents.

Fire appliances from Princetown, Yelverton, Crownhill and Tavistock, as well as a water bowser, incident command vehicle and hose layer from surrounding stations were called to attempt to tackle the blaze.

Watch Commander Henry Melle from Princetown said: 'The barn was outside the prison, close to the wall.

'When we got there it was well alight and took a while to get under control.

'Our main concern at the time was the smoke getting into the prison.

'We didn't want it to get into the wings but we were liaising with the prison officers and managed to get the smoke under control.'

Fire crews were at the scene for a considerable amount of time, turning over and dampening down the fire, while removing contents of the building to open ground.

The presence of asbestos made evacuation of the village a real possibility, but an assessment eventually determined this was not necessary.

At around 6.30am the incident was scaled down to two relief crews from Okehampton and Moretonhampstead and was later taken over by relief crews from Buckfastleigh and Bovey Tracey.

Watch commander Melle said: 'We were there all night Saturday and most of Sunday but it's ok now — the barn is empty.'

Police believe the fire was caused deliberately and are treating the incident as arson.

They are now appealing for witnesses and would like to speak to anyone who may have seen anything or anyone in the area around the prison in the hour or so before midnight.

This would include sightings of any vehicles parked on the main road from Tavistock to Two Bridges with a view of the prison.

Anyone with any information should contact the police immediately on Crimestoppers 0800 555111, quoting crime reference number JT/11/997.