WEDDING celebration plans will go ahead despite the “appalling timing” of a large barn fire near Bridgwater.

Crews from Bridgwater, Street, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet have been battling flames on farmland off Buscott Lane, Shapwick, which broke out around 7am this morning (Friday, June 29).

Crews arrived to find the barn up in flames with a third of hay inside fuelling the blaze.

Ann Davis, whose son is getting married today, feared the blaze would threaten the reception party which will go ahead as normal.

She said: "We are not sure how it started but the weather has not helped. It was a proper Dutch open barn and I guess it must have just overheated.

Bridgwater Mercury:

"The fire is largely under control and the say we will still be able to hold the reception here.

"There was smoke billowing out at 7am this morning and there were large flames.

"The fire service have been brilliant and we've even had a local Wedmore farmer helping out to make sure the fire doesn't spread to the silage bales."

The crew got to work with a covering jet and drag forks to stop the fire spreading to nearby silage bales.

As of 9am, crews were making steady progress dampening down the surrounding area to prevent escalation. 

John McCann, incident manager for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said: "It is a barn measuring 20m x 15m consisting of approximately 100 tonnes of hay. Crews from Glastonbury, Bridgwater, Street, Shepton Mallet and Exeter are here.

"We are making steady progress but we are likely to be here for the rest of the afternoon at least.

"We have advised nearby residents to keep windows shut due to the amount of smoke there has been."