Fire crews battle huge woodland fires in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire

Fifteen fire crews have been sent to a 'significant' fire in Blidworth in Nottinghamshire.

Videos from the scene show smoke billowing into the sky, with witnesses reporting woods and surrounding fields on fire.

Nottinghamshire Fire Service says it has sent teams to fight the blaze, with assistance from crews from Derbyshire, and they're urging people to avoid the area.

The service says it's dealing with an exceptional number of incidents around the county, with temperatures in the county reaching 39C.

Councillor Mike Adams, Environment Ambassador at Nottinghamshire County Council, who saw the blaze at Blidworth, said: "We watched from the other side of the valley, a small smoke plume of a couple of metres turned into a wave of smoke and fire jumped across the tree tops."

"Multiple appliances began turning up and I am sure they have a difficult battle on their hands."

"It's really sad to be seeing this pine forest on fire and I feel for the residents and wildlife that live in and around it."

"It's so hot today, so dry, a heat I've not felt in my lifetime. As the climate continues to warm, events like this are to become more regular."

"I hope the 250 hectares of trees we are planting over the next five years will go some way to replacing those, but that forest is mature and these have a long way to get there."

"Thanks to the emergency services for their work and if this wasn't a natural cause, please remember to extinguish cigarettes properly and avoid locations like this for BBQ while things are so dry."

Meanwhile multiple crews from Leicestershire Fire Service are in attendance at a large woodland fire at Bradgate Hill, near Groby.

Video from F Stop Press:

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue have tweeted: "We have declared a major incident due to high demand across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. We will not be attending Automatic Fire alarms. Please only call us if it's an emergency."