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Bacon saved after pedometer-eating pig's poo starts farm fire

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Two firefighters prodding burning hay with a long stickNorth Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Firefighters said they "saved the bacon" after a battery in the pedometer ignited in a pen

A peckish pig who swallowed a pedometer ended up sparking a fire in its pen.

Fire crews were called to a farm near Bramham, Leeds, at about 14:00 GMT on Saturday after copper from the pedometer's batteries apparently reacted with the pig's excrement and dry bedding.

The pedometers were being used on pigs to prove they were free-range. No pigs or people were hurt in the fire.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it had gone to "save the bacon".

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue ServiceNorth Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
The fire burned about 75 sq m of hay on the farm near Bramham

In a Twitter post, the fire service said: "Should be an oink not a tweet."

"Cause of fire attributed to a battery-powered pedometer carried by one of the pigs (to prove it was free-range), which was eaten by the other."

The fire service said crews were sent at about 14:00 GMT after "nature had taken its course".