Firefighters in North Yorkshire have tackled a blaze that broke out after a pig swallowed a pedometer which then combusted in its pen after excretion.

The fire crews were called to a blaze covering 75 square metres at four pigpens in Bramham, near Leeds, on Saturday afternoon.

The North Yorkshire fire and rescue service said the fire was caused by “nature taking its course” and copper from the pedometer battery reacting with dry hay and the pigpen’s contents.

The pedometer was being used to prove the animal was free range and had been taken off one of its fellow pigs.

No animals were harmed as a result of the fire.

“Should be an oink not a tweet,” said the fire service on social media. “A hosereel was used to extinguish the fire and save the bacon.”