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Cleveland Fire Brigade have now urged the public to support them during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak “more than ever” to reduce the risk of other malicious fires.

The brigade were called to a farm on Butts Lane, near Hart Village, at 11.15pm on Sunday, March 29.

They sent crews from Hartlepool Stranton, the Headland, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Thornaby to the incident, with a total of eight appliances sent to the site.

The fire has left two barns and their content damaged on the farm off Butts Lane near Hart.

On Monday morning, by 7.15am, the service had scaled back to just three of its appliances, with Hartlepool, Loftus and Grangetown still in attendance, with officers on the scene saying they expect to be there for days to come.

The brigade said the fire involved two barns, which contained farm machinery and pallets, with a large amount of smoke created by the blaze.

Large amounts of hay was involved with some continuing to burn.

The crews are monitoring the progress of the blaze under controlled circumstances.

Steve Johnson, area manager prevention, said: “It is so disappointing to see that at a time when we all need to be coming together to support one another we still have people committing crimes and ruining our local communities.

“We need the public’s support, now more than ever.

“Our resources need to be available to respond to any fires in the home and support with humanitarian aid for vulnerable people in our communities.

“We are pleading with the public to support us to remove arson from our neighbourhoods.

Firefighters have said they expect the blaze to continue for days.

“This is an ideal opportunity for communities to get behind us on the zero tolerance to arsonists. We all need to work together to tackle arson – it is everyone’s problem.”

The public can help tackle arson by eliminating potential sources of fuel by:

Putting wheelie bins out only on the day if collection and bring them in as soon as possible; Storing bins and refuse securely and away from property; Report issues such as fly-tipping in your area to www.fixmystreet.com; Report incidents anonymously to Crimestoppers 0800 555 111

Firefighters' plea to Hartlepool public after barn blaze arson