POLICE are appealing for information after a farm building and its contents were destroyed in a suspected arson attack at the weekend.

Firefighters spent all Sunday battling the fire in a large barn at Fitches Grange Farm, on the A68, between Toft Hill and Witton-le-Wear.

The new £200,000 building was gutted by the fire which started in the early hours of the morning and police are treating as suspicious.

Around 300 tons of baled hay, worth £50,000, were also destroyed.

At the height of the blaze, six appliances and more than 30 officers from Bishop Auckland and Crook were called to the scene.

Breathing apparatus was used on arrival as firefighters were concerned that Nitrogen-based fertiliser may have been in the barn but this was not the case.

The farmer helped to prevent further destruction by moving hay away from the barn with forklift trucks.

The blaze was a cruel blow for the owners, the Thompsons, a well known local farming family, as another of their farm buildings was destroyed in a suspected arson attack earlier this month.

And it was almost two years ago to the week that fire crews were called to the same site farmed by Kay Thompson.

In September 2000 a blaze destroyed 500 bales of newly harvested hay.

A spokesmen for the fire brigade said: "We were very aware that the fire was a devastating blow to the farmer, who was just getting back on his feet after the last fire and foot and mouth disease.

"We urge all farmers to be vigilant especially at this time of year."