PICTURES show the devastation caused by a heath fire which tore through a nature reserve and claimed the lives of several animals.

Six fire engines were called out in the early hours of yesterday morning after the fire service received reports of a blaze on Winfrith Heath.

Crews from Wareham, Dorchester and Poole fire stations went out at just after midnight to a 50x50m area of heathland on fire.

Firefighters extinguished the flames using main lines and hose reel jets.

The land affected is part of Tadnoll & Winfrith Heath, an internationally important heathland and wetland managed by Dorset Wildlife Trust, which is off the A352 near Wool. A variety of birds can be seen at the site plus sand lizards, water voles and insects.

Two firefighters, joined by staff from the Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT), returned to the scene yesterday morning to ensure that the fire had been extinguished properly and found a number of dead animals.

It is not known what sort of animals died in the fire or how many. The cause of the fire is thought to be 'accidental'. No further information on this was available.

A spokesman for DWT said: "We are sad to report that Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have attended a fire on Winfrith Heath.

"Fires on nature reserves are devastating to resident wildlife and a stark reminder to not light fires or use open flames of any kind on heathland or any nature reserves."

Warnings on the dangers of wildfires have been issued this year as the temperatures rise and dry conditions being experienced.

There have already been a number of sizeable heath fires in Dorset since Easter, causing devastation to acres of heath, woodland and wildlife.

As seen with the major incident at Wareham Forest last year, such fires take a great deal of resources and time to bring under control.

The Wareham Forest blaze which ripped through around 220 hectares of forest and heathland was described as 'one of the most devastating fires in Dorset, in living memory' by a senior officer in the fire service. It is believed to have been started by a disposable barbecue.

Community campaign group launched the #ChooseToRemoveDisposableBBQs campaign last month to discourage supermarkets and shops from selling disposable barbecues.

This prompted supermarket giant Tesco to ban the sale of the zip forest friendly barbecue tray in all of its Dorset stores.