Campfire warning after blaze on popular beach

A fire broke out on the Druridge Bay sand dunes over the weekend

People have been urged to avoid lighting campfires at a popular beach after a huge fire broke out on its sand dunes.

Four crews from Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service tackled the major blaze at Druridge Bay on Sunday, which the service said was caused by an "out-of-control" campfire.

The warning comes as yellow heat health alerts were issued for the whole of England from Tuesday morning until Wednesday evening.

Northumberland Labour leader councillor Scott Dickinson, who represents the Druridge Bay ward, said: "Think of the wildlife that will have been killed, the grassland scarred and the cost of the emergency services – local people are up in arms."

Crews were deployed at about midday on Sunday and had the fire under control by the end of the day, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Dickinson urged people not to light fires on hot and windy days.

Northumberland will be very warm on Tuesday and Wednesday with highs of 26C (79F), and the rest of week will see temperatures in the low to mid 20s.

This weekend's fire will have a lasting impact, councillor Scott Dickinson says

Dickinson said work had been undertaken with partners including the National Trust to try and stop people from misusing the area.

This included sand barriers to stop vehicles from accessing protected areas and new signage and bins.

However, he was also keen to stress that it was not just a recent issue.

Dickinson said: "This is not new. I have lived here my entire life and these issues present themselves in summer every year."

The fire service said the risk of wildfires remained "extremely high", and asked people to avoid having BBQs or campfires and take a picnic instead.

Dickinson added: "This weekend was an unfortunate accident but will have a lasting impact that will be seen for a while."