Flames tore through a chicken shed at a farm near Market Drayton just hours before it was due to be filled with thousands of chicks, firefighters said today.

It happened at Bellaport Road, Norton in Hales.

Plumes of smoke were seen in the sky just after 4.30pm yesterday.

Firefighters said no chickens were harmed as the shed, measuring about 100 metres long and 40m wide, was empty before more birds were due to arrive.

Mark Smith, crew manager at Market Drayton, said about 35 firefighters tackled the blaze in “testing” conditions as the building was heavily smoke-logged.

“We were met by a farm worker who said one of the sheds was completely smoke-logged from a fire in the corner,” he said.

“On inspection we found the fire started in plastic feeding troughs and spread throughout the building.

“It was quite a difficult incident to deal with because of the size of the building plus all the smoke inside. I wouldn’t say it was a severe fire but a testing one.

“No animals were harmed but the farm was getting ready to take more chickens and if the fire had been today it would have been much worse as there would have been thousands of birds in there.”

He added the building suffered some damage but was not beyond repair.

Appliances from Market Drayton, Hodnet, the heavy pumping unit from Prees and two Staffordshire appliances went to the scene.

Crews used six breathing apparatus, hose reel jets, thermal imaging cameras and a main hose.