Firefighters were called to an Essex village after a tractor and 16 tonnes of hay caught alight.

Five fire crews attended the incident in Main Road, Hatfield Peverel, shortly after 5pm today.

On arrival firefighters found a tractor and hay bales being pulled on a trailer ablaze.

A spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews worked to extinguish the main fire and then spent some time pulling apart the hay and dampening it down to ensure it was completely cool.”

The brigade sent two crews each from Chelmsford and Witham, and one from Great Baddow.