Fire crews face 'taxing conditions' amid 'extreme weather'

Tyne and Wear's fire boat was used to tackle the flames from the river

A series of fires has broken out across parts of Tyneside and County Durham amid the "extreme weather".

A specialist boat was used to tackle a large grass blaze close to the River Tyne at Ryton Willows, Gateshead, earlier.

Five crews managed to bring the flames under control by Wednesday evening.

A grass fire, covering 5,000sq m, broke out close to the Plough Inn, Pelton, and there was an allotment fire in Easington Lane.

The fire in Pelton was reported at around 15:30 BST with people told to close windows

Five appliances were called to the scene, near Sunderland, try and stop flames from spreading.

Nobody was injured.

Five crews were called to a large allotment fire in Easington Lane

Chris Lowther, chief fire officer for Tyne and Wear, said it was "another really difficult working day" with firefighters and control room staff "grafting in extremely taxing conditions" to keep people safe.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue said its control room had experienced "high volumes of calls".

"We would also encourage everyone to refrain from having garden fires, controlled burns or barbecues in this extreme weather," a spokesperson added.

Cleveland Fire Brigade also warned it was experiencing a high volume of calls at its control room on Wednesday evening, as its crews dealt with "multiple grass fires and other incidents".