Firefighters are urging people to take care on the fells after they spent hours trying to bring a wildfire under control.

Crews from across a Copeland were called out to the blaze, which had taken hold of a large area of Irton Fell, Wasdale, at 5.50pm on Saturday.

As many as 20 firefighters - from Whitehaven, Seascale, Bottle and Millom - were at the scene along with a joint incident command unit.

They spent four hours trying to bring the fire under control.

“When we got there, there wasn’t much water supply because the becks were dry so we used beaters,” said acting crew manager Darren Elliott.

“All the crews went up the right hand side because the left was contained by a wall.”

They were called back after midnight when the fire reignited and returned at 9.30am yesterday to check for any hot spots, spending another five hours beating to stop the fire spreading again.

While the cause of the fire is unknown, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is reminding members of the public of the dangers of grass fires during dry periods.

Mr Elliott said people should be careful with barbecues, cigarettes and broken glass, which can magnify the sun’s rays and cause a built up of heat.

Smoke could be seen billowing into the air from miles around on Saturday but the now blackened fellside shows the scale of the disaster.