Blackpool firefighters in plea: Stop burning rubbish

And they have made a plea to people to stop burning rubbish and garden waste at a time when emergency services need to be alert to other emergencies in view of the coronavirus lockdown.

Watch manager Dave Shaw, based at the town's Forest Gate station, said: "We've had an increase in what I would call nuisance fires.

"Families whose children are having to stay off school have been unable to get into their gardens because neighbours are burning rubbish and the smoke is proving a real problem.

"It's an unwanted extra draw on resources at a time when we're looking to support the NHS."

Firefighter Shaw believed the increase in such fires was down to more people having to stay in their homes because of the lockdown.

He added: "This is happening at all times of the day and evening and we would ask people to stop doing it."