Hundreds of calls tor grass fires across Wales

A grass fire between Nelson and Treharris in the south Wales valleys on Monday evening

Fire crews have received hundreds of calls about grass fires across Wales over the last 24 hours.

Since Monday, crews have been tackling "numerous" blazes, according to Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Firefighters in north Wales have spent the night dealing with a grass fire at Bylchau on Denbigh Moors.

Crews were first called about the incident at 15:59 BST on Monday and firefighters from Denbigh are currently at the scene monitoring the blaze.

The Mid and West service said the warm weather meant the grass was "dry enough just to ignite itself".

It said its control room had received 291 calls since 08:00 BST on Monday, although many were repeat calls on the same incident.

Meanwhile, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service says it received 206 calls between 18:00 BST on Monday and 07:20 BST on Tuesday.

Malicious fires

A spokeswoman in the Mid and West Wales control room said it had been a hectic few days for the staff on duty who had "taken a battering".

"It's dry enough just to ignite itself," she said.

"There is some controlled burning but sometimes that will get out of control.

"It can just be a discarded cigarette or, of course it can be maliciously set."

The Mid and West service has launched a campaign to highlight the problem of grass fires to the public.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it had extinguished all grass fires overnight, apart from the blaze on Denbigh Moors.

The warm weather is expected to continue this week.