AROUND a dozen chickens were killed as a fire ripped through an allotment.

Firefighters were called to the allotments near Sycamore Avenue in Nelson at around 2.45am on Tuesday.

A fire service spokesman said several calls were made from a number of streets nearby.

The fire took a couple of hours to put out and 12 chickens had been killed during the blaze.

The fire is not thought to be suspicious.