POLICE who arrested five teenagers after a huge barn blaze are investigating a photograph sent to The Northern Echo which appears to show the moment the fire started.

A herd of 238 traumatised cattle had to be evacuated as 50 fire officers battled the flames which swiftly spread through the huge barn in Aiskew, near Bedale, North Yorkshire.

- Is this the moment the blaze started?

One of the main problems was stopping the thick black smoke which badly affected visibility on the A1 at Leeming, around 200 yards away, and the A684, just 40 yards away.

One cow died after its head became caught in railings.

The owner of the cattle, Sam Webster who rents the Bedale Road barn, estimated that up to £250,000 of damage had been caused while years of work had simply gone up in smoke.

“I just can’t believe this, it’s horrendous, it was a raging inferno when I arrived, but we managed to get all the cattle out thanks to the farming community. They really did rally round, people turned up with wagons and trailers. And the fire crews did an absolutely marvellous job, I really can’t thank them enough.

“It’s just devastating, I have built the cattle business up over the past 15 years, and employ eight people, and it just gets wrecked. Who pays for this?”

The image, which had been circulating on social media, appears to show two young people sat next to a small fire in bales of straw in a barn. It was emailed to The Northern Echo and has now been passed onto police.

A police spokesman said they are treating the fire as arson. Five local teenagers who were arrested, three girls aged 13,14 and 15 and two boys aged 14 have all been released on police bail while further enquiries are carried out.

An off-duty police officer spotted the blaze in the barn just before 6pm on Sunday, March 1, and raised the alarm.

Eight fire crews from as far away as Stokesley and Harrogate battled for hours in temperatures of over 600 degrees to control the flames and managed to save 60 per cent of the building.

Station Manager Mark Warren said it had been a “major operation”, particularly with the smoke affecting nearby roads, while the barn also bordered the Wensleydale heritage railway, although fortunately no trains were running at the time

“It has been a very large barn fire, we have worked through the night, but managed to save around 60 per cent of the building. We did have to employ a lot of resources.The cattle were traumatised and being next to the A684, it was important to keep them contained and safe and get them off the site.”

Anyone with any information on the fire is asked to call North Yorkshire Police on 101.