A crew of firefighters who worked through the night to put out a farm fire has received an unusual reward - sausages made from a litter of piglets they rescued from the blaze.

Back in February, a malfunctioning cable in a barn started a fire at a Wiltshire farm managed by Rachel Rivers and her husband Andy.

The fire rapidly spread over the hay bales stored in the barn, which was also home to 18 frightened piglets and two sows.

Firefighters from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire braved the flames to reach the porkers before they turned into crispy bacon.

"They were huddled in the corner, and then the firefighters rescued them and moved them to a safe barn," Rachel Rivers told This is Wiltshire at the time. "One of the sows had their ear burned but otherwise everyone is fine."

The crew then remained at the farm through the night until the blaze was extinguished.

"I wanted to thank them," Rivers told the BBC. "I promised them at the time I'd bring down some sausages for them, which they were all pleased about."

Six months later, the moment arrived to send the now-grown pigs to the slaughterhouse - and the farmers didn't forget their promise. A package of sausages soon arrived at the Pewsey fire station, where appreciative firefighters promptly threw a barbecue.



Rivers acknowledged that her unusual thank-you gift might look macabre to animals lovers. "I'm sure vegetarians will hate this," she said, adding: "We farm and this is what we do. You can't keep them as pets."

Indeed, the tale proved divisive on social media, where Twitter users were either horrified or amused at the porkers' fate:



Waste of time saving them when they could have had pork crackling .... — Simoney Kyriakou (@MoorgateMermaid) August 23, 2017

Is this for real! %uD83D%uDE33 just seems very heartless in my view. It's terrible and horrible. Nasty. Yes I'm a vegetarian and I hate it as she says — poppyred (@poppyred2002) August 23, 2017

Pfft. These are not teacup piglets people keep as pets. They are farm animals. Meat doesn't grow on trees, get a grip, people. — Gamer Mommy (@_Gamermama_) August 23, 2017

A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service thanked the farm for their "generosity", adding: "We can tell no porkies, the sausages were fantastic."