THE recent hot spell turned north Kent's grassy areas into "tinder" forcing firefighters to tackle more than 250 blazes.

Dartford firefighters fought 151 vegetation fires over 12 weeks this summer - more than 12 a week.

And Thameside firefighters tackled 100 fires on dry areas, including crops, railway embankments and grassland, between June 1 and August 16.

Stuart Skilton, head of community fire safety at Kent Fire and Rescue Service, says grass and crop fires "tie up a huge amount of valuable firefighting resources" and are a "serious problem".

Thameside firefighter Steve Wood says grass fires take up a lot of the crews' time as they are difficult to tackle.

He said fires on dry land need to be tackled quickly as they spread fast and sometimes threaten homes.

Other crews have to attend calls to Thameside when its firefighters are attending a grass fire because the station has limited resources, says Mr Wood.

He says sometimes there is evidence the fires could have been started deliberately.

But most of the time hot weather is the main factor, the 51-year-old said.

Mr Wood, who is part of Redwatch at the station in Coldharbour Road, Northfleet, says land can get so dry it becomes like "tinder" and can self ignite, especially in Dartford Heath and areas of Northfleet.

Calls about grass fires are dropping now the recent hot spell has come to an end, he added.

Mr Skilton says children deliberately starting fires also causes major problems for firefighters during the summer holiday period.

He said: "We want to encourage people to take care and think about what they're doing.

"If you are a parent, we urge you to warn them of the dangers of fire, as well as keeping matches and lighters out of their reach."

Mr Wood said: "It's something we expect most summers.

"It's hard work and we have limited resources."