Fire breaks out at Birling Gap

Firefighters from Eastbourne, Seaford, and Heathfield rushed to the blaze which had broken out in the open at the beauty spot at about 6pm.

On arrival, there was approximately 100 square meters of gorseland alight, said East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

Crews used beaters, two hose reel jets and flexpacks to extinguish the flames.

ESFRS said the cause of the fire is not yet known and a fire investigation is due to take place today.

David Baker from East Dean was taking photos of the local flora moments before he noticed the emergency response.

The rector of East Dean Church, and former political journalist at the Leicester Mercury, followed his instincts and came across the blaze, taking photos of the firefighters hard at work.

When the 53-year-old first saw the flames, he thought, “Gosh, I hope this doesn’t really start to spread, because it is dry. It would be awful if it engulfed the lighthouse or the National Trust building and tea rooms.”

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.