At least 1,000 pigs have died in a fire at a factory farm in the village of Erp in Noord-Brabant province.

Firemen worked through the night to stop the fire spreading to a second barn with 5,000 piglets. Water had to be piped through from several kilometres away to douse the flames and fire engines were drafted in from several areas.

Fires on factory farms are not uncommon in the Netherlands. In April, At least 10,000 pigs died in a fire at a massive pig farm in Oirschot near Eindhoven.

In 2013, the cabinet said it is taking steps to improve fire safety standards in the intensive livestock farming sector after a string of major fires in which tens of thousands of pigs and chickens have died.

In July 2013, 10,000 chickens died in a fire in Limburg. In November 2012, nearly 50,000 chickens were killed in a fire near Utrecht and in July 2011, 170,000 died in a similar fire in Drenthe.