A child and a teenager have been arrested on suspicion of setting a straw barn on fire.

Two girls, aged 12 and 14 have since been released under investigation following a fire in Westbury on May 6.

Shortly after 6.30pm Wiltshire Police were called by the Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service to Coach Road Farm where a straw barn is suspected to have been set on fire deliberately.

The two girls were subsequently arrested on suspicion of arson.

PCSO Alice Moore of the Warminster Area Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We can’t stress enough the dangers of deliberately starting a fire like this.

“We attended along with the fire service who fortunately were able to contain the fire but not without it causing substantial damage that will cost the farm owner thousands of pounds, with the barn housing straw feed for livestock.

“This was a senseless and reckless act and could have had much more dire consequences.

“We’d like to remind people that hay bales are not toys to play on and are highly flammable and we plea to people to take extreme care to avoid starting a fire, especially as we start to head towards the summer months.”