Friends rally round after arson attack devastates family farm

Brecks Lane Farm went up in flames at the same time as the first cars were being torched on the streets of London.

Nobody is suggesting any connection to the riots but to the two women who run the little farm, 69-year-old widow Olga Smith and her 38-year-old daughter, Helen, the fire appears to have been the same kind of pointless vandalism which has caused outrage across the country.

The flames in Brecks Lane, on the outskirts of Rotherham, consumed two barns and two sheds which between them held two tractors, a combine harvester, hay carts, cattle feed, bedding, 2,500 litres of diesel fuel and much more. The Smiths reckon their losses would cost £2m to replace and the insurance company is suggesting they are not fully covered.

Their winter feed crops are ready to be harvested but they have no equipment or storage for them. And their Friesian cows are delivering half their usual milk. Although out in the fields when the fire started, they have been spooked by the noise, smells and disruption to routine.

The farm is 250 acres of pasture and arable crops, all grown to feed 100 dairy cows.

Terence Smith built it up from a rented smallholding and his wife and daughter vowed to carry it on after he died 18 months ago.

On Saturday, August 6, however, somebody broke into their main hay barn and set a fire under the diesel tank inside.

The break-in involved a rope and a ladder and the fire involved fuel being siphoned into a drip tray under the main tank.

Just before the fire became obvious at 4pm that day, Mrs Smith saw two white boys, who she guesses were aged between 14 and 17, making their way from the farm across a field to the edge of the nearby East Herringthorpe estate.

Her daughter found the fire and managed to get one of three tractors out of the barn before the flames stopped her going back for anything else.

The fire brigade had water supply problems to start with and the fire spread to a second barn and destroyed that too. It was the following Tuesday before the crews left.

But even before they did, more help was arriving.

Michael Medley, a self-employed builder and odd-job man from Sheffield’s notorious Manor, knew the Smiths because they let him fly his Harris hawk on their land.

Yesterday, black from soot, he was dismantling the steel framework of the barns in the hope some could be salvaged.

He said: “I came up here on the Monday and turned the corner and my heart fell out at the devastation. We were still putting out smouldering straw on Saturday.”

He has been labouring ever since to clear up the mess, along with his son, Matthew; the farm’s full-time hired hand, Steven Richardson, who has been there 14 years; and other friends and neighbours.

Mr Medley said: “On the Monday night, I got back home and switched on the telly and saw that army of people with brooms in London and I must admit I burst into tears.

“But it’s the same spirit we’ve got here. You’ve got to get up and get on with it.”

Helen Smith said: “I find it hard to understand that anybody went to so much trouble to break into a shed.

“We never dreamt anything like this would happen to us. We have rung the police about youths rabbiting on our land, and we have had a dog poisoned, but we are not the only ones who have had that sort of trouble.

“We are just ordinary small farmers. We have no idea who did this to us but I can promise you one thing – we will not let them win.

“However, I’m not too proud to say we can use any help anyone can offer – particularly, right now, with the harvest. We’ve got barley and wheat we should be cutting.”

Detective Constable Scott Walker, investigating the crime, said: “Someone in the local community will know who carried out this malicious attack.”

“I urge anyone with information to contact the police and ensure that these reckless criminals, who clearly care little for the safety of others, do not strike again.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the South Yorkshire Police switchboard on 01142 202020 to contact DC Walker at Rotherham CID or leave a message about crime 969 on August 6. Or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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