Man faces spell out of work after tractor fire in Crowle

Agricultural contractor Matt Wood said he was driving back from a job in his tractor on Friday when his part-time staff member noticed smoke in front of the windscreen.  

The resulting blaze destroyed the tractor and caused a road closure on Old Turnpike Road in Crowle. 

Mr Wood, from Worcester, is now facing a long wait for his insurance to come through but, due to the high prices of tractors, he fears he will have to dip into his own pocket to fund the rest. 

As well as robbing him of his only tractor, Mr Wood said the blaze also saw him lose several hand tools worth around £3,000. 

He has owned the tractor for around 10 years, but said a new replacement would cost in the region of £100,000, far beyond the £15,000 he believes his own vehicle was worth before it was destroyed. 
 
Mr Wood's business, which sees him carry out work such as haymaking is heavily reliant on him having a tractor.

He told the Worcester News he has recently been waiting for the weather to change so he could get more work- but now fears he will miss the spike in trade that comes with the sunny weather. 

He added: "Thankfully, we managed to get out of the tractor quickly, I guess the adrenaline carries you through those first few moments. 

"But now I am beginning to get stressed out, I am a bit fed up with things. 

"I went to the Three Counties Show last weekend and sat in one of the tractors, and when I asked how much it would be to buy one they said £90,000 which is very concerning. 

"I'm worried by the time we have a tractor, it will be raining again- it's a nightmare, I should be out haymaking and yet I'm just sat here twiddling my thumbs."

At around 3.30pm on Friday, June 14, West Mercia Police were called to Old Turnpike Road, closing the road and diverting traffic elsewhere. 

A crew from Worcester and another from Droitwich arrived on the scene to put out the fire. 

Email mattwoodagri@gmail.com if you are able to help Mr Wood.