A 15-year-old has been referred to a fire safety intervention course after admitting to starting a blaze next to a haystack on a farm in north Essex.
The fire was extinguished before it could take hold, avoiding major damage—but officers have warned of the potentially devastating consequences.
The incident, which occurred on 3 May in the Braintree district, came amid an extremely dry spring for many farmers across the country.
PC Luke Jones, of Essex Police’s Rural Engagement Team, who led the investigation, said: “The teenager admitted lighting the hay but said they didn’t intend to start a big fire.
“The flames were put out before they could properly take hold, but arson can have devastating and heart-breaking consequences for farmers, with livestock injured or killed and buildings and machinery destroyed.
“Hay is highly combustible and even a small fire can spread very quickly into the surrounding countryside and become a wildfire, which would be catastrophic for the environment and local communities."
As part of a community resolution agreed between the farmer and the police, the teenager issued a formal apology and will now attend the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service’s Fire Safety Intervention Scheme.
The course, a form of restorative justice, is designed to help young people who have demonstrated fire-setting behaviour understand the consequences of their actions and deter further incidents.
PC Jones said the approach aimed to educate rather than criminalise: “The farmer wanted the teenager to face up to what they had done and to learn what the effects of their actions could have been.
"So rather than go down the court route, we arranged for a community resolution instead.
“This brings home to the teenager the enormity of their actions while avoiding giving them a criminal record at a young age.”
The cost of on-farm fires surged by 37% to over £110 million in 2023, and blazes were larger in scale than usual, according to the latest available figures.
However, there was a 15% fall in the number of fire claims involving growing crops, buildings and farm equipment reported to NFU Mutual in that year.
