Bradford Council’s countryside chief is warning walkers to be extra vigilant for moorland blazes following damaging wildfires in West Yorkshire.

Danny Jackson, countryside services manager for the Council and also chairman of South Pennines Fire Operations Group, has warned of the danger posed by wildfires, which can strike anywhere in the South Pennines, to wildlife, farm livestock, valuable habitat and human health.

He said: “As the good weather both dries out the peatland and encourages more people into the countryside the likelihood of wildfires increases at this time of year.”