THESE are the dramatic pictures of a field fire which threatened homes and a pub. Four fire crews were sent to Park Lane in Old Knebworth on Wednesday afternoon last week. It took the firefighters just over an hour to control the blaze which came close to

THESE are the dramatic pictures of a field fire which threatened homes and a pub.

Four fire crews were sent to Park Lane in Old Knebworth on Wednesday afternoon last week.

It took the firefighters just over an hour to control the blaze which came close to garden fences and destroyed a garden shed.

Before fire crews arrived, farmers tried to put the blaze out by ploughing the crops to contain the fire and by using a fire extinguisher.

Comet reader Ville Vuorinen, who lives in Biggleswade, took these pictures on his way from work.

He said: "I knew there were houses and the Lytton Arms pub very close to the field, and with the dry weather I was thinking whether the fire would sweep from the fields to the gardens of these houses.

"As I got off my bike and walked on the field to get closer to the fire, to take some pictures, I saw one of the farmers carrying a fire extinguisher and walking towards the flames that sometimes seemed twice as high as the man approaching them and I wondered how much good would it do for him to try and control the fire with it."

Pictures by Comet readerVille Vuorinen