Large grass fire at airstrip burns 37 acres

About 37 acres (15 hectares) of grassland was alight at the airstrip, which is to the east of Southend-on-Sea

A large grass fire at an airstrip has burnt about 37 acres (15 hectares) of land.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service was called to the site at Barling Magna, near Southend-on-Sea, at 14:17 BST on Tuesday - and had put it out by 20:00.

Six crews tackled the flames at the height of the incident.

Firefighters returned overnight and in the morning to check for hotspots and carry out damping down.

The service said an investigation would take place to establish the cause of the fire, near Little Wakering Creek.

Crews from Leigh, Shoeburyness, Southend, Rayleigh Weir, and Rochford were among those on the scene

Fire crews from the Southend area's stations were joined by a water bowser from Corringham and an off-road vehicle from Chelmsford