The barn, lying close to Haydock Racecourse, belongs to the long empty Haydock Park Farm, a familiar landmark to motorists travelling through junction 23 of the M6 at the intersection with the East Lancashire Road.

Measuring 30 metres by 12 metres, the large barn was packed with old tyres which had caught fire accidentally.

Fire crews from St Helens, Eccleston and Millfields were called to the scene shortly before 3pm on Wednesday and firefighters were in attendance for more than five hours, using three appliances to tackle the blaze.

Passing motorist Andy Williams said: "I could see the thick plume of black smoke from miles away.

"The smoke had started to drift across the motorway.

"People were slowing down so they could look and see what was going on so the traffic on the East Lancs was building up. It was quite a spectacular sight."

No one was injured in the blaze and firefighters do not believe there are any suspicious circumstances.