Arson arrest as fire crews tackle beach blaze

The fire had spread to the marram grass but not the trees behind, Wells Lifeboat said

A man in his 60s has been arrested on suspicion of arson as fire crews tackle a blaze on a beach cut off by high tide.

Norfolk Police said the man was arrested at the scene. No injuries have been reported.

Wells Lifeboat had been needed to help get fire crews and equipment to East Hills, on Bob Hall's Sands, Wells-next-the-Sea, to tackle the blaze.

A strip of water at high tide creates an estuary and separates the area from the main beach.

Smoke from the fire at East Hills could be seen on the other side of the estuary

Lifeboat manager Chris Hardy said the fire was between 200m and 300m wide and was being driven by the wind.

He said the lifeboat received a callout at about 14:15 BST but found no one on the beach had been caught by the fire.

A statement from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service said: "We requested the assistance of HM Coastguard and RNLI to help our crews get equipment to the fire in an estuary area off the coast of Wells."

Crews from Holt, Fakenham and Wells are on the scene.

East Hills is accessible by foot at low tide, but a boat is usually required for access.

Wells resident Garry Platten said the fire looked "very serious", and he had seen at least five fire engines.

"That's going to be bad as there are quite strong winds out there," he said.

"It's going to take some containing because where the hills are you have a lot of moss residue under the ground, so that will be very hard to put out."

He added: "A lot of people scatter their ashes over there so they can look on the town... That's in our hearts, the East Hills."

Fire crews from across north Norfolk have arrived to tackle the blaze