A STUD farm owner has spoken of his horror after a mare and two foals died when fire ripped though a stable block yesterday.

Spencer Chapman, who owns Aston House stud farm in Aston Rowant near Chinnor, said he was “devastated” by the death of the horses.

But he praised a night watchman who alerted him the flames were spreading rapidly though the stable block just metres from his home.

The 48-year-old, who lives at the farm with his family, said: “The night watchman alerted me and I rushed out and we tried to get as many of the horses out as we could, but we got overwhelmed by the flames.

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“You can see how close the stable is to our house and if it had got any closer the whole house could have gone up.

“I couldn’t believe how quickly it went up in flames.

“It was just a panic scene. Some of the horses were running away.

“A neighbour came out and helped us and we were trying to help the horses but unfortunately some of them just couldn’t get out.”

A spokeswoman for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue confirmed 20 firefighters from Thame, Watlington and The Slade in Oxford attended the blaze and prevented it spreading to the house, but the stable block and the roof were completely destroyed.

Aston House breeds horses for flat racing.

Mr Chapman said the yard’s most famous horse was Bauer, which came second in the Melbourne Cup in Australia in 2008.

There were about 30 hoses in the stable at the time of the blaze.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue has launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze.