Inquiry follows third farm fire

The fire at the Great Hem farm started on Friday night

An investigation has begun into a Powys village's third major farm fire in six weeks.

More than 50 firefighters battled the blaze which badly damaged buildings and machinery at Great Hem farm in Forden, near Welshpool, on Friday night.

Water was pumped from a river a mile away, and smoke could still be seen rising on Saturday evening.

Crews had fought two separate fires about a mile away at Woodlands Farm in Forden on 26 September and 18 October.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, which is investigating, was alerted to the Great Hem, a beef farm on the Powys border with Shropshire, on Friday at 2100 GMT.

More than 50 firefighters fought the blaze in the village of Forden

A combine harvester was among the items destroyed in the fire.

Firefighters worked through the night and at the height of the blaze flames could be seen from miles away. Energy supplier Scottish Power also turned off electricity in the area as a precaution.

A nearby road was closed and diversions set up on Saturday morning. It remained shut on Monday.