Last year's moorland fires near Ripponden

Weekend walkers in the Pennines have been warned to take care after a series of fires struck the moors around Saddleworth.

Firefighters from the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service spent the night fighting a blaze on four square miles near Ripponden Road, north of Denshaw. The fire service is warning any spark could reignite the moorland.

The area has had little rain in the past few weeks and old winter heather and bracken are susceptible to fire.

The cause of last night’s fire, which was first reported about 7.20pm on Friday, is not known. Smoke from the moorland blaze drifted towards the nearby M62 motorway.

Last May, two major fires broke out on the Pennine moors near Ripponden and Scammonden, with 65 firefighters involved in tackling the two blazes.

Open access land the length of the Pennines was closed when the fire risk reached the ‘exceptional’ level.