FIREFIGHTERS have called on people to take their rubbish home after a discarded bottle started a fire in Haldon Forest.

Crews from Middlemoor and Bovey Tracey put out the fire in a remote part of the forest yesterday, Saturday.

On their Facebook pages Middlemoor and Bovey Tracey Fire Stations report: ‘Blue watch attended a small fire in the open today in Haldon Forest Park, the fire had been spotted and called in by a dog walker in one of the more remote areas of the woods.

‘Crews made access along the paths with the fire engine to assess the fire and used water backpacks to knock it back and extinguish it.

‘The incident commander then made up for one of our Argocat ATV units which attended from Bovey Tracey Fire Station due to the location of the incident and the need for water to be brought to thesite of the fire.

‘The ATV crew then used their fogging unit to dampen down the area where the fire had been to ensure no further spread, the fire area was roughly 120m long by 10m wide and was believed to have been started by sunlight off of a discarded bottle.

'Please pick up your trash and do not litter.’