Firefighters are warning people enjoying the moors in the district to guard against wildfires after a blaze got dangerously close to an equestrian centre.

Crews from Shipley and Keighley as well as a specialist wildfire unit were turned out to the fast-burning fire in Hawkesworth Lane, above Baildon, on Thursday night.

The alarm was raised by a stable girl working at Moorside Equestrian Centre just before 9pm.

Fire took hold of about 150sq metres of scrubland and firefighters had to use the special 4x4 vehicle to cross rough terrain to reach the seat of the blaze.

It took about one and a half hours to get it under control but fire crews managed to stop it spreading to the stables separated from it by just a dirt track.

Stephanie Firth, the livery yard manager at the equestrian centre, said it was the third fire in the area this week.

The 32-year-old spotted it when she went back to the stables to get her phone. She added: “It was really close to the stables and we have these fires every year.

“We don’t know whether it was started deliberately. But it is the fact that there are birds nesting there and rabbits in burrows who may have lost their lives because they couldn’t get out.

“I was really concerned because the wind was blowing in my direction and you could see the embers blowing over close to the stables.”

Shipley crew watch manager Alan Holdsworth said: “We were lucky there wasn’t much wind or it could have easily spread. The fire was mainly surface and didn’t get down to the roots. We don’t think much damage would have been done to wildlife but there were a lot of rabbit holes around. We used water from tanks of both fire appliances and from the 4x4.”

Mr Holdsworth said it was believed Thursday’s fire had been started deliberately.

“We’ve had fires down there before. It’s a place where kids gather to smoke and have a drink but it’s even more precarious in dry weather like this.”

He added: “We’d ask people to take extra care when they’re out and about on the moors. Make sure cigarettes are out properly and don’t leave them lying around, the same message goes with glass bottles.If they are left in direct sunlight they can also start fires. The best advice is for people to take their rubbish home with them.”

West Yorkshire’s firefighters dealt with an average of 26 grass fires every day throughout April last year and just last weekend more than 90 firefighters tackled a moorland blaze in Calderdale which consumed more than four miles of countryside.

Anyone who is found to have started a fire deliberately which destroys a site of special scientific interest could be fined up to £20,000