An electrical fault may have started a blaze that killed 9,000 chickens and destroyed a 14,000 sq ft building.

The cost of the fire at Hill House Farm, Ross Road, Ledbury, has been estimated at more than £100,000.

Poultry farmer Alistair Young called the fire brigade at around 11pm on Tuesday, when he noticed one of his three large chicken sheds was ablaze.

Two fire crews from Ledbury and two from Malvern prevented the flames from spreading to the other sheds, where there were a further 18,000 chickens.

Firefighters used hose reel jets and breathing apparatus to deal with choking smoke.

Sub Officer Keith Wildig, of Ledbury Fire Station, said the building was well alight when they arrived.

Firefighters finally put out the flames at 2am, although damping down operations continued later on Wednesday morning.

Mr Young said he did not know how the fire had started.

Ledbury NFU secretary, Philip Jenkins, said Mr Young was insured by NFU Mutual and that loss assessors were on site yesterday (Thursday).

He said the final tally for the loss of the 14,400sq ft building and the chickens would probably be "a six-figure sum".

"Clearly we are sympathetic. That is part of our role," he said. "For a farmer, anything that involves livestock is far worse than an incident that doesn't.

"Mr Young was looking fairly tired and fed up on Wednesday, but I'm sure he will cope, with the support of the rest of the community."

Mr Jenkins said the NFU was advising the farmer on the disposal of the massive building, most of which collapsed.

He said: "Except for one far end, essentially the building is flat, with the metal roof sheeting lying on top.

"The extent of the fire was such that the disposal of chicken carcasses will probably not be an issue.

"The building was re-wired and refurbished only 18 months ago, so there's no question of neglect. But the suspicion is some kind of electrical fault."

n Fire crews from Ledbury and Malvern also attended a lorry fire at 1.30pm on Tuesday on the A417 at Parkway. The lorry, carrying food, was "engulfed in flames". One lane of the A417 was closed to make way for the fire appliances and for the burnt-out lorry to be removed.