Crews dealing with second fire at beauty spot

A fire has broken out for the second time in three days on Ministry of Defence land in Colchester.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said about 30 firefighters returned to Middlewick Ranges in Mersea Road after being called at 14:20 BST. A spokesperson later said the flames were under control.

About 50 firefighters also tackled a blaze there on Friday.

The site is used for Army training exercises but also has public footpaths and has woodland home to nightingales, fungi and digger wasps, among other wildlife.

Earlier, the fire service urged people to close windows and doors due to the smoke, and to avoid the area so access to roads and hydrants was not blocked.

At 16:00, a spokesperson said: "The fire is contained and under control.

"Firefighters will continue to dampen down hotspots. We will start to reduce the number of crews at the site shortly."

According to the Essex Wildlife Trust, the Middlewick Ranges covers about 76 hectares (equivalent to about 106 football pitches).

Tens of hectares of rare acid grassland are found at the site.

Acid grassland is a type of natural dry grassland that grows on low fertility, sandy and gravelly soils, similar to lowland heath.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service says it has experienced one of its busiest periods in four years.

In the week to Thursday, its control team received 2,029 emergency 999 calls, resulting in firefighters being mobilised to 570 separate incidents.

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