Staffordshire Moorlands fire service 'absolutely stretched'

A fire service says it is "absolutely stretched" after three Staffordshire Moorlands fires began in as many days.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said it was dealing with some of the most challenging conditions since 1995.

Crews were today dealing with fires between Thorncliffe and Shawfields, Lady Edge and Alton - the first of which started on Saturday.

About 20 firefighters remain in Alton and 20 at Thorncliffe and Shawfields. The Lady Edge fire ended on Sunday.

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The fire in Alton started at about 17:30 BST on Monday

The first grass fire started between Thorncliffe and Shawfields at about 17:15 BST on Saturday, followed by a fire at nearby Lady Edge on Sunday and a blaze in woodland in Alton on Monday.

Saturday and Sunday's fires were originally two separate incidents but merged and were eventually treated as one.

Severn Trent has donated staff and water bowsers to crews at the Thorncliffe and Shawfields fire.

Firefighters have worked "over and beyond their hours" in order to deal with the fires, the fire service said.

The British Red Cross and Rapid Relief have been at the scene to look after the the welfare of firefighters throughout the last few days.

Glyn Luhzny, from the fire service, said: "The fire control staff, they're just working non-stop.

"So it's really a figure of speech, but it's all hands to the pump."

The fire service said people were working "exceptionally hard"

Investigations have begun into the cause of the grass fires

He added: "We're absolutely stretched and yesterday [Monday] we had four significant incidents going at the same time.

"We're trying to provide cover for any eventualities, but it's really difficult.

"People are working exceptionally hard both in terms of the operational crews and those staff in fire control who help coordinate all the resources."

Elsewhere, four crews were also sent to a grass fire at Sneyd Hill Park in Stoke-on-Trent earlier.

Firefighters were called to the first blaze, between Thorncliffe and Shawfields, at 17:15 BST on Saturday