Crews extinguish 3.5 acre wildfire fanned by winds

Crews from South Woodham Ferrers, Burnham, Wickford and Rayleigh Weir attended the scene on Wednesday night

Crews have put out a wildfire that spread across about 3.5 acres of grassland along a river bank after winds fanned the flames.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said it was was called to a large fire on Creekview Road, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, at about 19:04 BST on Wednesday.

It said it had issued wildfire safety advice following a Met Office forecast of warm weather.

The firefighters used portable pumps, backpack sprayers and beaters to extinguish the blaze, which was out by 20:25, it said.

Mark Eaglestone, the service's group manager, said: "You can play your part in preventing wildfires and protecting our beautiful countryside by disposing of litter properly.

"Please avoid having campfires and using disposable barbecues as it only takes an ember to catch the tinder dry grass and vegetation alight when it's hot and dry.

"If you're a smoker, make sure to properly stub out cigarettes before discarding them," he added.

Crews remained at the scene to dampen down the site until 21:30.