Crews deal with large peat fire on the Simonside Hills

Crews from three stations across the county have been called to the Simonside Hills near Rothbury.

A Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said the service had been at the scene for several hours.

“The call came in at 11.15am,” she said. “It is smouldering peat.

“An appliance from Rothbury is there, Alnwick is there and Amble is there.”

A support unit is also at the scene, along with an Argocat all-terrain vehicle.

An expert wildfire officer and a fire investigation expert are also on hand.

The service is working with the Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team, which has urged people to stay away from the area.

The fire is the second large blaze in the area in the last week.

An investigation was launched after firefighters were called to Simonside Hills on Easter Monday.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you