Sixty firefighters battled the flames

There have been at least 150 incidents since the beginning of the month.

Ten firefighters were airlifted off Dartmoor on Wednesday, away from a gorse fire which at one stage was raging across 12 square miles of the moor.

The fire is being treated as arson and witnesses have reported seeing two people on quad bikes leaving the area a few minutes before flames were seen.

The National Trust has described the fire as an environmental disaster.

Animal welfare

It is nesting season and the moor is home to rare birds like the skylark and rare plants.

The National Park Authority, which said the fire was the worst on the moor for almost 10 years, will meet experts from English Nature on Thursday to assess the damage.

English Nature's reserve manager, Ray Lawman, said the cost to wildlife, farmers and the taxpayer was high.

It could take skylarks five years to return to the area.

He said: "We will have several farmers who are not able to graze these areas for us because the fences will get damaged and destroyed.

"There's also a problem with animal welfare. Animals will run from fires and they are likely to injure themselves trying to get out of enclosures."