Fire crews tackle crop blaze near Ripon

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Firefighters from three stations were called out this afternoon to deal with a large crop fire at Givendale, near Newby Hall.

Arriving at the scene at around 2.40pm, crews from Ripon, Harrogate and Northallerton found a blaze covering approx 300m x 300m – a 90,000 square metre (22-acre) area roughly the size of Harrogate town centre.

Crews fought the fire and farm machinery was used to create fire breaks.

Severe drought conditions across large parts of England and Wales this summer have sharply elevated the risk and frequency of field and crop fires.