MOST WILDFIRES IN WALES THIS YEAR 'DELIBERATE' SAY NRW

'Beachwatch' call over fire catastrophe fears

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE

MOST wildfires in Wales this year were started deliberately and are costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds, forestry custodians have said.

Seven more incidents were reported in North Wales over the weekend.

Already this year, fire crews in Wales have battled almost 1,400 wildfires. It has left some communities living in fear, with residents in Newborough, Anglesey, waging an almost daily battle to keep fire away from their sea side forest.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which manages the Welsh Government's forestry estate, said that, between March 21 and May 11, it suffered 24 wildfires on or near its land. As a result, more than 222 acres of young trees went up in flames.

"That's roughly the equivalent of 130 football fields," said NRW senior specialist advisor Andrew Wright, new chair of the Wales Wildfire Board. "Along with many hundreds of metres of fencing, which is essential in helping us keep visitors to our forests safe."

In an online blog, he issued an impassioned plea for people to be more fire-aware. As well as not discarding cigarettes or glass bottles in the countryside, he urged visitors to refrain from lighting campfires and to only light barbecues in approved areas.