PEOPLE were today warned to take extra care on the spectacular moors around Huddersfield.

The warning came after a fire which swept across Marsden Moor was described as devastating.

And Guy Laurie, property manager for the National Trust, fears even more damage if people do not heed safety warnings.

There are fears Sunday’s fierce blaze – which ripped across 200 acres of moorland adjoining Redbrook Reservoir – could have been started by a discarded cigarette.

It was the fifth such fire to hit the protected moorland in just 18 months.

And Mr Laurie, who helped a huge army of firefighters and volunteers to tackle the blaze, said people needed to heed the warnings.

“It is so frustrating. I was on the roadside yesterday watching fire crews tackling the blaze when a driver drove up, slowed down and threw a lit cigarette out of his car window.

“It is idiots like that who cause the problems. One spark, one discarded cigarette, can cause the devastation we have seen up there”.

Hundreds of nesting birds are thought to have been killed in the blaze, which raged for several hours.

Curlew, grouse and owl all had nests on the moor and the months between April and August are their peak nesting times.

Fire crews from six stations were helped by volunteers working for the National Trust, who own and manage the 5,000 acre estate.

Mr Laurie said: “It is very hard to say just now how bad the damage will be. We will be working on the moor for the rest of this week and assessing what has been lost.

“The fire spread across the top rather than burning down into the peat but it has caused a devastating amount of damage”

He appealed for members of the public who visit the moors to use commonsense and avoid leaving anything that could start a fire.

“Despite what people think, we have had little rain this year and the ground is very dry at times”.

Yorkshire Water have also issued an urgent warning about the moors.

They own thousands of acres around Huddersfield and have been hit by a spate of fires.

“Our reservoirs may be looking pretty healthy at the moment, but the catchment areas around them are tinder dry. The heather and bracken haven’t really begun to put out new shoots yet so the dead vegetation left from last year is vulnerable to fire at this time of year, particularly if it’s dry”, said land and programme manager Mike Pearson.

“We ask that people do not start any sort of fire and a stray cigarette end, a spark from a pipe or even the rays of sun through a discarded drink bottle could be equally disastrous.

“In May last year, a fire on Rishworth moors, near Ripponden, which is suspected to have been started by a discarded cigarette, destroyed over 300 hectares of moorland and cost thousands of pounds to extinguish.

“Over 65 firefighters were tied up for some time and it could have put lives at risk if they hadn’t been able to control the blaze.

“We’ve already had one fire there last month and although, we welcome people onto our land we want them to behave responsibly and leave it as they find it.”