Open fires warning as crews keep fighting blazes

People have been urged not to start fires in the open by firefighters, as they tackled a series of blazes over the weekend.

Despite recent rainfall, fire crews have been dealing with a number of fires, including at Chatterley Whitfield Nature Reserve in Stoke-on-Trent and Hankelow in Cheshire.

Firefighters were called to Chatterley Whitfield at about 17:00 BST on Sunday.

The fire burnt an area of about 500m by 100m (546 yds by 109 yds) and the fire service said it was started deliberately.

There were no reports of injuries but the police were now investigating, they added.

The warning from the service follows several large fires in the West Midlands earlier in August, which left a number of homes destroyed and some firefighters in hospital.

Elsewhere, crews from Market Drayton in Shropshire helped Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service to put out a fire in Hankelow, near Audlem, on Sunday morning.

They said they were sent to what turned out to be an out-of-control bonfire at 10:39 BST.

The fire was put out within about five minutes of them arriving, but crews stayed in the area for another 45 minutes to make sure it was completely out - no-one was hurt.

"Despite the recent rainfall, we would ask people to refrain from having open fires at this time," a spokesperson for the fire service said.

"The ground remains extremely dry in many areas, meaning fires can still spread very rapidly."

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