HUNDREDS of pheasants died in a fire near Bromyard.

Around 300 young pheasants died in a shed fire at a small holding in Lower Sapey yesterday morning.

A fire crew from Bromyard attended the incident at around 3.15am to find the shed well alight and was unable to save the birds.

Simon Halling, the crew manager at Bromyard, said they were alerted to the fire by a neighbour.

"The owner was devastated," he said. "He was unaware what was going on until his neighbour told him. He himself became aware of it after the heat from the fire set-off his security light."

Mr Halling added that the owner tried to extinguish the fire with a garden hose to attempt to save the pheasants which were around a week old.