Thousands of trees 'killed by cigarette butt fire'

A cigarette butt is suspected to have caused a forest fire that is believed to have killed thousands of young trees.

Nests and charred wood have been found after flames ripped through thousands of trees in Harrow Hill in the Forest of Dean following a "short hot spell" in May.

Leoni Dawson, community ranger for Forestry England, said they were worried "this whole place is dead and gone".

It is thought no deer or boar were harmed due to a deer fence enclosing the area, but concerns remain for insects, reptiles, small mammals and bird nests.

Describing the site, Ms Dawson said: "You can see how dry it is, how brown and dead it is."

She said their working assumption was the fire, likely started by a cigarette stub, had spread quickly because it was so dry after a few days of warm sunshine.

The trees in the area where the fire started were only planted eight years ago.

As the trees were not yet in leaf, the sunlight was able to penetrate the ground and dry it "quickly", which Ms Dawson said had enabled the flames to spread more rapidly.

"It's really sad.

"Because of the time of year it happened, they were flushing. We are worried that this whole place is dead and gone."

Forestry England does not have specific records of what was at the site, but charred nests "beautifully lined with feathers" were found.

"We're hoping they were just at that building phase and there were no chicks or eggs in there," Ms Dawson said.

"The birds themselves would have been able to fly away, but it's just whatever was contained within those nests that we would be worried about."

To prevent a similar situation from happening again, Ms Dawson urged visitors to be responsible.

"Please do not have barbecues, especially the little disposable ones, they are so dangerous," she said.

"If you're going to smoke, carry a little pouch with you that you can put your butts in so you can dispose of them properly when you get home."

Anyone who noticed a forest fire was advised to get to safety before calling 999, with a what3words location that was particularly helpful to fire crews, she added.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.