Farm buildings and silos were destroyed after a large diesel tank caught fire near Martinstown.

Firefighters were called to tackle a blaze at Pen Barn Farm, south west of Martinstown at 8.09am on Saturday morning.

When they got to the scene, they found whey silos, a building and diesel tanks on fire.

A spokesman for Dorchester Fire Station said: “Upon arrival we were faced with a large fire involving several agricultural buildings in very close proximity to a pig farm. This was compounded by a diesel spill which was spreading the fire quickly."

Five pumps from Bridport, Maiden Newton, Dorchester and Weymouth as well as support vehicles and officers attended the blaze, with firefighters facing 'trying conditions' to get it under control.

A huge, black smoke plume could be seen from some distance at the height of the blaze.

The spokesman added: “Crews got to work with two breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and a main line. The fire was quickly surrounded and brought under control."

However, due to the silos still smouldering and being unstable, it was decided to use the farm's machinery to knock them down so fire crews could get water on and ensure the fire was fully out.

Around 10am the firefighting efforts were scaled back leaving two pumping appliances and Bridport Fire Station's water carrier at the scene.

Crews from Dorchester and Maiden Newton remained on the scene throughout the morning to damp down the area.

Residents of a nearby farm said they had been hit by fires in the past.

"It takes so long for the farm to recover from them. I just hope the damage is not too bad," they said.

Farmer Luke Mayo, who lives in nearby Friar Waddon managed to capture pictures of the blaze from the air.

"I was called by a friend who lives a couple of hills over who had seen the smoke and phoned to see if it was my farm," Mr Mayo said.

Mr Mayo, who owns a paramotor, decided to take flight and take some aerial pictures of the scene.

"By the time I got up it was mostly out. It was very lucky, it seemed very contained," Mr Mayo said. "There was a lot of corn surrounding it so it was very lucky that didn't catch or it would have just spread and spread right the way over the valley. It could have been a whole lot worse."

The Dorset Echo contacted the manager at Pen Barn Farm, who did not want to comment.