Essex Firefighters tackle 400-acre blaze at Littlebury

About 70 firefighters have tackled a blaze which affected 400 acres of field and a disused building.

A total of 15 crews were sent Strethall Road, Littlebury, Essex at about 16:00 BST on Sunday, which also caused a fire to break out in an empty building at Great Chesterford railway station.

Essex Fire and Rescue Service said the blazes were extinguished by 21:30.

Firefighters have called for caution in the dry weather as it tackled numerous blazes over the weekend.

Embers from the field fire in Littlebury, which is close to the M11, drifted north to the roof space of an unused two-storey building at the railway station, the fire service said.

The roof sustained significant damage but crews prevented further damage to the building.

It added that the blaze was "even more challenging" due to the changing wind directions and firefighters, with the assistance of the farmer, "worked hard to stop the fire from spreading".

Crews remained at the scene after the fire was put out to check for hotspots and crews will carry out further checks this morning.

Epping fire station manager, Dave Bond, said: "It was a fast-moving fire due to the weather conditions and crews worked really hard to protect the M11 and nearby houses."

Firefighters in the county tackled a number of field fires at the weekend including a blaze affecting 60 acres of land.

Eight crews went to the large fire in Rookery Road, Norton Heath, Ingatestone at about 16:15 BST on Saturday.

The fire was brought under control quickly and three crews continued to extinguish hot spots during the evening.

Other incidents on Saturday included a haystack fire in Little Yelham Road, Little Yeldham, just before 10:00, which was extinguished by midday and 100 sq m of smouldering grass in Park Lane, Aveley which was dampened down just after 11:30.

Five acres of stubble caught fire in Peggy's Walk, Littlebury at 14:15, as well as an area of field near Pitsea Railway Station just before 16:00 and 100m of hedgerow in Bramwood Road, Clacton just before 17:00.

All were extinguished within 30-45 minutes.

The fire service has called in people to reduce the risk of wildfires by making sure cigarettes are stubbed out properly and discarded responsibly.

It has also ask the public to avoid lighting campfires or barbecues in the countryside and never leave barbecues or bonfires unattended.

Mr Bond said: "We've seen an exceptional increase in the number of calls coming in.

"We've got extreme heat and a slight breeze as well which mean any small fires quickly develop and require a lot more resources than perhaps we would do if conditions were damper."

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