Grassland blaze tackled near Reading rail tracks

9 August 2022

News image — Rail passengers could see dense smoke close to the tracks

BBC Field fire — Rail passengers could see dense smoke close to the tracks

Firefighters have tackled a large grassland fire which broke out near railway tracks.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) said it was called to Circuit Lane in Southcote, Reading, at about 15:10 BST.

Trains between Basingstoke and Reading were delayed while the fire was dealt with.

The fire service later said it had been brought under control but it would maintain a presence at the site.

At the height of the fire, witnesses said the whole field was alight and described flames reaching the bottom of the rail embankment.

RBFRS had earlier warned of the "extremely high" risk of wildfires throughout Berkshire because of the hot, dry weather.

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read

X’s cookie policy

and

before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk.