A LARGE piece of farm machinery was completely destroyed after catching fire in a field last week.

The forager, a machine used to chop and collect silage went up in flames shortly after 3pm on Thursday near Fardel, close to Lee Mill.

The fire service sent two appliances from Plympton and Greenbank to attend the incident, with fire fighters getting to work with breathing apparatuses and compressed air foam, and using one fire engine to shuttle water to the scene.

Just after 5pm, firefighters confirmed the forager to have been completely destroyed by fire. The cause of the blaze is believed to be accidental.