CATTLE were freed from the scene of a fire at Sourton Down on Monday which destroyed 50% of a farm building and its contents.

Fire crews battled for five hours to extinguish the blaze.

Fire control received a couple of calls at 4.09am alerting it to the fire and two appliances from Okehampton and an appliance from Hatherleigh along with the water bowser from Danes Castle Exeter and two officers were mobilised.

Shortly after their arrival, another fire appliance from Tavistock and the incident command unit and support pump were mobilised from Greenbank in Plymouth.

The building was well alight and efforts were being made to remove the cattle that were in close proximity to the building.

A fire appliance from Torrington that had compressed air foam capabilities was requested at 5.58am.

Over the course of several hours the fire crews steadily fought the blaze as strong winds fanned the flames. All the cattle were successfully removed from the affected buildings.

The single-storey farm building, measuring approximately 50 metres by 35 metres, contained 30 large bales of hay, 30 large bales of straw, and 30 tonnes of mixed animal feed and corn.

Around half of the building and its contents were damaged by fire and collapse.

By 10am the fire was completely under control and fire crews then began the process of removing the building's contents.

The incident was scaled down but crews remained in attendance for some time turning over and damping down hot spots.

The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental.