Firefighters tackling ongoing fire on Dartmoor

Firefighters are still battling a large wildfire on Dartmoor that started on Sunday evening.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze had spread across an area 3km (1.9 miles) by 1.4km (0.9 miles) and on Sunday crews from 13 stations had been deployed to the Dartmoor Forest area near Cut Hill.

Wildlife support officers and a police helicopter were also deployed, which confirmed there were no concerns about injuries or missing people.

On Monday the fire service asked people to avoid the area and any properties affected by the smoke should close their windows.

At about 10:45 BST, a spokesperson for the fire service asked people to avoid the Merrivale and the Okehampton range areas.

They said: “If you are heading up the moor because with the changeable weather, the fire might behave unpredictably.

“We are monitoring it and we are still attempting to extinguish it.”

There are currently 10 appliances at the scene, most of which are “special fire appliances for moorland firefighting”, the spokesperson said.

The fire service said the cause was currently “unknown”.