HORSES kept at stables in Worcester were lucky not to be injured or even killed after a hay barn went up in flames in a blaze believed to have been started deliberately.

A hay barn at Old Northwick Riding Stables caught alight before the fire spread to two freezers and the front of two neighbouring feed sheds as well as fencing and a signpost.

Although firefighters were able to put out the fire before any animals were injured, owner Sara Miller said five horses were stabled that night with one of them in a horse box only 30 feet away from the blaze.

She believes the fire was started deliberately.

She said: "Thankfully, no animals were close enough to be caused any harm but obviously the arsonists wouldn't have even thought about that.

"I find it incredibly sad that people get a kick out of acts of arson, risking animals' lives and destroying other people's property."

Mrs Miller said she was out to dinner on Saturday, April 29 when she received a phone call from her son to say a friend had gone past the stables and seen the hay on fire.

She then phoned her mother, who lives behind the stables, and asked her to check.

She said: "As soon as she opened the back door she went into a panic.

"She had to phone the fire brigade.

"They were there within eight to 12 minutes. They were really quick."

Mrs Miller also rushed to the stables in Old Northwick Lane but said the fire in the hay barn had already spread to the freezers and nearby trees and had melted through a CCTV camera cable, rendering it useless.

She said: "The fireman said it was arson.

"There's nothing else.

"There's no other way that it could have started."

Mrs Miller said she had seen three youngsters hanging around near the stables earlier that day but they were gone when she returned to deal with the fire.

She added: "A local electrician said there had been three boys hanging around letting fireworks off in people's gardens a couple of nights before."

"It's scary and really worrying.

"When I got here all the hay barn was on fire. There's a metal roof so that contained it underneath but it started to spread out of the sides.

"Another 10 minutes and I hate to think how far it would have got really."

Mrs Miller says although she has not lost a huge amount in the fire, the clean up will be costly as she will need to hire machinery to clear it all.

She is also disappointed to have been told recently that a mobile home on the site needed planning permission and should be moved.

She said: "The council has asked me to move it but I'm going to fight it. I need someone living on site."

Firefighters were called to the stables at around 9.15pm on Saturday.