A West Yorkshire farmer has admitted he may quit farming after a large barn fire caused by a suspected arson attack nearly killed 150 sheep.
Fire crews were called at around 4pm on Wednesday (20 March) to a farm blaze in Old Lane, Ovenden.
The barn, which contained 150 pregnant ewes, was set on fire by 'mindless' arsonists, according to the farmer, Keith Midgley, who spoke to Halifax Courier.
However, no sheep were killed in the fire, but Mr Midgley and his family are left with costs running into the thousands.
Due to the severity of the incident, he is now considering walking away from a lifetime of farming.
He told the paper: “We've had incidents over the years, with dogs attack sheep, thefts and vandalism, but never anything as bad as this.
“It makes me want to say 'enough is enough, let's not bother any more'. I don't make a great living out of farming, I've always done it, I love it, but this feels like the last straw.”
The incident follows news of an arson attack on a farm in Derbyshire in November 2018, which destroyed more than 3,000 bales.
Owners of the farm, E H Kinston and Son, posted a viral post on Facebook explaining how three thousand bales had been destroyed in an act of “evil duty”.
Meanwhile, a huge blaze thought to be an arson attack ripped through a farm building owned by James Dyson in December 2018.
The Head of Farming at Beeswax Dyson Farming, James Dyson's agricultural business, said on social media that 'mindless vandalism' caused the incident.
