A FARMER last night said he was devastated after a blaze ripped through a barn full of harvested hops.

A large storage barn, pictured, at New House Farm, in Southmoor, caught fire at about 7.40am yesterday.

Eight fire crews from Abingdon, Faringdon, Wantage and Oxford, supported by an aerial platform from Oxford, tackled the blaze.

Photography student Tom Hughes,18, who lives close to the farm, said he could hear the blaze when he woke up.

He said: “I looked out and the main barn was on fire. “A few of the farm workers were running across the field to it, they knew it was big.

“The whole roof was alight and when I walked down the lane I could feel the heat.”

The farm building, in Hanney Road, was built in 1923 and contained hops and hop drying kilns.

Farmer Tim Blanchard said the damage would costs thousands of pounds and he would have to find an alternative place to dry the rest of his hop harvest.

His wife Pat Blanchard said: “We are devastated but thank God nobody was hurt.”

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was quickly brought under control, following expert guidance from a hazardous materials specialist, and had not spread to nearby buildings and a diesel tank.

The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental with no suspicious circumstances.