Firefighters spent almost five hours tackling a huge barn fire in East Cornwall last night.

Crews from across the region were called to Launceston at 7.53pm, following a 999 call.

Two fire engines from the town were sent first, but backup was scrambled when firefighters were confronted by the size of the blaze.

A fire service spokesperson said: "On arrival crews found a considerable sized building well alight and requested two additional appliances, which were mobilised from Callington and Liskeard Community Fire Stations.

"An incident command unit, operational support vehicle and environmental protection unit were also mobilised along with an incident commander and hazardous materials and environmental protection advisor."

Crews used two hose reel jets and two main jets to put out the flames, before two firefighters wearing specialist breathing equipment went in to to carry out decontamination of the barn, due to it having an asbestos roof, backed up by specialist officers.

Due to the size of the incident, the fire service's critical control team also called in police, the ambulance service, Cornwall Council's emergency management team, the Environment Agency, South West Water and Western Power Distribution.

One crew remained at the barn to monitor for hotspots once the fire was out, finally leaving at 12.37am.