Firefighters spent hours tackling a manure fire at farm in Swanley yesterday afternoon.

Two crews from Dartford fire station were called out to a field in Park Lane at about 4.30pm after 300 tonnes of manure went up in flames.

The crew were joined at the isolated site by a bulk water carrier from Larkfield fire station and had to form a fire break using farm tractors and other machinery.

The huge pile was about 800 tonnes, of which 300 was alight.

A farmer's digger was used to create a fire break in it and the farmer was then able to break down the pile to allow crews to put out the flames.

Firefighters had to be extra careful as the dowsed down the flames as the manure blaze, which emits lots of smoke, was sited very near junction 3 of the M25 and was causing a hazard for motorists.

By about 8pm the crews had made good progress breaking up the stack using the digger and carried on fighting the flames with the help of the water shuttle.

The crews had managed to put out the huge pile by about 9pm.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue said: “The fire destroyed approximately 300 tonnes of manure.

“The incident has been handed over to the farmer.”