THE start of the bank holiday weekend, combined with the easing of lockdown, seems to have led to a rush of barbecue fires in public areas that got out of control.

Firefighters were called out yesterday evenng to several incidents of what they called a 'small fire in the open' started deliberately.

They included one in Old School Walk off Beckfield Lane just after 8pm, which firefighters stamped out: and one in woods near Poplar Street, in the Leeman Road area, at 8.20pm which they put out using buckets of water and a knapsack sprayer.

In Harrogate, meanwhile, a fire crew had to put out a picnic bench which had caught fire at 9.30pm last night.