FIREFIGHTERS from Hatherleigh and North Tawton attended a blaze at the stables of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts in Beaford on Tuesday afternoon.

On arrival crews found 20,000 tonnes of manure and straw on fire in the middle of a field.

Fire crews from Torrington and Chumleigh also attended the fire which was under control by the late afternoon.

A spokesman for the Devon Fire and Rescue Service said that in very hot weather organic matter could spontaneously combust.

Mr Watts runs an Arabian stud at Beaford and lives in the village of Dolton.