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 | | Tuesday, 23 April, 2002, 19:43 GMT 20:43 UK Fire scorches beauty spot  Low rainfall left the grassland tinder dry A fire has damaged 10 acres of grassland on the Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. Around 80 firefighters had to climb more than 1,000ft to tackle the blaze, the worst in seven years on the hills. The flames, which were spotted at 1100 BST on Tuesday, were being fanned by a strong breeze. Fire investigators have not been able to find a cause, but the area is said to be very dry after an exceptionally dry spring.
The fire broke out on Red Lion Bank, on North Hill, the second highest peak in the range of hills which spans the Worcestershire-Herefordshire border. Chief fire officer David O'Dwyer said getting firefighters to the flames had been difficult. "We had quite a deep-seated fire on quite a large area of the east side of the North Hill. "We managed to get round three sides but the other side, near the quarry face, was extremely difficult and caused us some problems." The smoke spread over the centre of Great Malvern and as far as Malvern Link. Fire crews used beaters to make sure smouldering grassland did not flare up again. Beating teams were expected to remain on the hill overnight. | |   Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:  Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||
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