'Firestarters do not understand impact on farm'
BBC/Jim ScottPeople who started a fire which ravaged 40 acres (16 hectares) of farmland should be educated on the consequences of their actions, a farmer has said.
The blaze, on Flinton Hill Farm, near Sunderland, on Sunday destroyed about £8,000-worth of straw, according to farmer, Tania Tallon.
Tallon said she believed the fire, which saw "months of work" go up in smoke, had been started by children. She said the farm witnessed anti-social behaviour every week.
Tyne and Wear Fire Rescue Service (TWFRS) said seven fire appliances had been involved in extinguishing the blaze. Northumbria Police said it was investigating.
Tallon said the straw had represented "months of work, time and cost" and had been destroyed in "a matter of minutes".
TWFRS said it had taken about three and a half hours to put out the fire, with crews leaving the scene at approximately 17:30 BST on Sunday afternoon.
The farmer said anti-social behaviour, such as motorbikes trampling crops and fly-tipping, was occurring on the farmland on a weekly basis.
Fires were more common in the summer when kids had "nothing to do", she said, adding social media trends which involved setting fire to straw bales may have exacerbated the problem.
Penshaw PadelTallon said when she encountered youngsters on the farm doing things they should not be, such as drinking or littering, there was a "lack of respect" and a "lack of care" in their response.
She said more needed to be done to educate local children about where their food came from.
"I think there's a really big disconnect with people and where their food comes from these days," she said.
"That disconnect is getting worse and worse, and rural crime on farms is becoming worse and worse as a direct result."
Penshaw PadelTallon said she intended to remove the remaining straw from the field to take away "any temptation" to those who might set fire to it.
She is seeking to put in padel courts on a nearby farm with the aim to secure its long-term future, but has faced some opposition from locals.
It comes as firefighters have been struggling to put out wildfires across the country, with the government issuing a temporary ban on disposable BBQs and an emergency phone alert on Friday.