Fire crews checking for Moors 'hotspots'

The fire has destroyed acres of heather

Firefighters are spending their sixth day on the North York Moors following the largest fire to break out in the area for at least 30 years.

The fire started on Wednesday and has badly damaged an area of about five square miles of Fylingdales Moor.

On Monday the crews of four engines will spend the day checking for hotspots, although most of the fire has been extinguished thanks in part to rain on Friday and Saturday.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue told BBC News Online: "We will have four appliances checking for hotspots for at least all of today (Monday) with the crews based near the Flask Inn on the A171 on Fylingdales Moor."

The cause of the fire is still not known but it is thought it could have been started by a cigarette in a waste bin on the A171.

No one has been hurt and no property damaged.

Fire chiefs have said dealing with the incident, which has involved using a helicopter to drop water and bringing in reinforcements from other areas, will cost thousands of pounds.