Isle of Wight firefighters had busy evening in East Cowes

Youths were spotted running away as firefighters from East Cowes arrived to deal with a 15mx15m grass fire on the banks of the River Medina at Kingston Road last night (Friday).

The fire crew were called out at 8.13pm and used a hose reel to extinguish the fire, followed by damping the area down.

The incident was wrapped up at 8.53pm.

But just over an hour after they had returned to base, the unit was called out again.

The crew were called out at 10.02pm to a bonfire out of control in a garden in York Avenue.

Plastic and a mattress were being burned by householders.

Again, one appliance was required to extinguish the blaze, followed by a period of dragging it with a rake to turn it over and damping down, with the incident closed at 10.50pm.

The incident follows a warning by the Friends of East Cowes Fire Station on their Facebook page a matter of hours earlier — appealing for residents in the town to act sensibly in the hot weather conditions at present.

A typical garden bonfire out of control.

Their message reads: "We have had dry conditions for a little while now and, with temperatures hotting up, the risk of fires spreading out of control is increasing.

"Take care with bottles or glasses out in the sun, avoid camp fires and bonfires if possible."

For more advice from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Service on protecting our countryside and gardens, go to: https://www.hantsfire.gov.uk/hot-and-dry-conditions-increase-risk-of-wildfires/?fbclid=IwAR1WEyauAi3CNtpULnluL1ajwVOglZK2Rgd2KUYcGtFSaZ3pO4eyVM3Lh5g