Update on Thursday 1 June at 11am: 

No further action has been required and crews will continue to revisit the scene over the next few days to ensure the fire does not reignite.  

People in the affected area are advised to expect some smoke until the haystack has completely burned out. 

Update on Wednesday 31 May at 6.30pm:

Firefighting operations are now complete at the incident, with duty of care for the site passed back to the landowner. Fire crews will carry out drive-by checks every six hours to ensure the managed burn-off continues as planned.

People in the local area are no longer advised to keep doors and windows closed, however there is a chance of further smoke and ash fall until the haystack is completely burned out.

Update on Tuesday 30 May at 2.15pm:

Fire crews continue to keep an eye on the haystack, which is reducing in size steadily as it burns off. Due to strong winds, it is likely that nearby properties will still experience smoke and ash fall, so the advice to keep windows and doors closed remains in place.

A fire service presence will be maintained until tomorrow morning (Wednesday 31 March) when additional equipment will be used to break up the stack and allow firefighters better access to deep-seated hot spots. This work may result in occasional bouts of more smoke and ash being released, decreasing towards the end of the day as crews hopefully fully extinguish the fire.

Update on Monday 29 May at 1pm:

Fire crews continue to keep a watching brief over the haystack, which is slowly reducing in size as it burns off. A fire service presence will be maintained for the next day or so to make sure no hot spots develop and can be damped down if they should occur.

Due to high winds, it is likely that nearby properties will still experience smoke and ash fall, so the advice to keep windows and doors closed remains in place.

Update on Sunday 28 May at 10.30am:

The haystack fire is continuing to give off smoke and ash and is likely to do so for the next two to three days. The message to people in the local area remains to consider keeping windows and doors closed as a precaution. Due to the ash in the air, anyone planning to hang out laundry to dry may want to delay.

Firefighters remain at the scene while the stack, thought to consist of around 6,000 tons of hay, burns itself out.

Firefighters are in the process of dealing with a haystack alight in a field off Church Road, Cobham, near Gravesend. A large plume of smoke is issuing, so crews are advising people in Istead Rise and the surrounding area to close windows and doors as a precaution.

Please share this information with anyone in the area who doesn't have access to the internet.