'Reckless' Crosby beach fire starters endanger birdlife

It took firefighters more than an hour too extinguish the fires

Arsonists started a series of fires on a Merseyside beach, leading to fears for the safety of birdlife.

Conservationists said the blazes in sand dunes at Crosby Beach near Mariners Road on Sunday threatened the habitat of skylarks.

Police condemned the "reckless and irresponsible behaviour" of those who started the fires.

Fire crews took over an hour to put out the flames using hoses, buckets of water and beaters.

Conservation group The Friends of Crosby Beach said the dunes, which are home to skylarks, had been "torched deliberately, not accidentally".

"A burning piece of wood was carried and grass was set alight in number of locations. Only a complete moron could have done it," the group claimed on Facebook.

The Crosby dunes are home to the Skylark

Insp Duncan Swann said: "Starting fires deliberately in the manner we saw in Crosby last night is utterly irresponsible, putting our communities at risk and placing an unnecessary strain on our already overstretched emergency services.

"Thankfully the fire service extinguished the fire before anyone was harmed, but this reckless disregard for people and property is simply not acceptable."

A fire service spokeswoman said crews were alerted at 18.50 GMT and the fire was brought under control by 19:20.