Road partially shut as car fire spreads to heath

The fire started in a car on a slip road of the dual carriageway

A dual carriageway was forced to close after a car fire spread to adjoining heathland.

Eight fire crews were sent to the A338 near Bournemouth Airport, after the alarm was first raised at about 13:30 BST, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service said.

Firefighters said the wind carried sparks across the road from the southbound carriageway, causing two further fires in heathland on the northbound side.

The service said the blazes were extinguished at 17:15. The northbound carriageway remained shut for a time while power lines were checked.

The vehicle fire, in a southbound slip road leading to a quarry, initially closed both carriageways and sent black smoke across the road.

Fire crews from Springbourne, Wareham, Christchurch, Poole, Redhill Park and Ferndown attended the blaze, supported by crews from Lymington and New Milton in Hampshire, said the service.

The A338 is a major road used by holidaymakers between the A31 near Ringwood and Bournemouth.

Dorset has been hit by two major heath fires this month, including one at Newton Heath near Swanage that burned for 10 days, while fire crews from across England helped to deal with a blaze at Holt Heath near Wimborne across 72 hectares (177 acres) of land.