TEMPERATURES were in the 80s, the beaches were packed and there was no prospect of a let-up.

Our current sweltering weather has invited comparisons with 1976, when Britain sizzled all summer.

Brian Cummings, now senior seafront inspector at Bournemouth, spent much of that summer on the beach, where his mother was a beach nurse.

"I think people are being a bit more careful now. People slap on the sun cream and cover up, but in those days everyone would sit in the sun with just hankies on their heads," he said.

He added: "In those days we had beach rowing boats and the names of the lost children were written on a blackboard. They had to use the land telephone to contact people.

"Now we have got the fast land rescue boats on standby and the Kids Zone scheme which means fewer children are reported lost and those are quickly reunited with their parents."

In August 1976, the Echo was calling for the New Forest to be closed to visitors after a series of devastating heath blazes. All leave for fire fighters was cancelled.

Bournemouth councillor Jim Courtney, then a senior fire officer, remembers there had been almost a year with very little rain. The major fires started as early as April.

In July, he was on holiday when he heard a call for fire fighters to return to their stations. "I came home and went straight to West Moors and was then away for 48 hours solid.

"The difficulty was the firefighters had taken such a beating that those officers on duty were practically on non-stop and it was difficult to get relief," he said.

The army was also deployed. "To see tanks used to make fire breaks was very unusual," said Cllr Courtney.

He believes the fires were not accidents. "There was somebody going round lighting fires," he added.

Today, Dorset police and firefighters are running Operation Scarlet to tackle the problem of arson on heathland.

Drought was a major problem in 1976. Wessex Water Authority had introduced hose pipe bans and was considering bringing water from Scotland by train. Residents were being urged to use bath water on their gardens, and were told dirty cars were patriotic.

Its privatised successor Wessex Water has not had the same problems.

A spokesman said: "As this dry period of weather follows a relatively wet winter, we've been quite lucky."

In 1976, council workers were using recycled water to try and save trees and shrubs.

The pond at Queen's Park had dried up for the first time in 40 years, as had the one at Horseshoe Common.

Bournemouth council reports no serious problems in 2003. A spokeswoman said parks staff had added recycled compost to shrubs and borders to combat evaporation. Grounds staff had been issued with hats and sun cream and told to drink plenty of water.

The one area where the problems of 2003 outstrip 1976 is rail travel, with Network Rail imposing 60 mph speed limits for fear rails will buckle.

Anthony Stone, proprietor of Bournemouth Rail Travel Association, was working at Euston Station in 1976 and does not recall serious problems.

He points out that rail tracks used to be laid in 60ft lengths, which allowed more room for the rails to expand in the heat, unlike today's continuously welded tracks.