"BRING those responsible to justice."

Those are the words of charity workers who yesterday battled to save wildlife at St Catherine's Hill after a huge heath fire was started deliberately by arsonists on Tuesday.

Volunteers joined members of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust at the site during the morning as part of a huge search for creatures which had survived the fierce fire.

More than 70 hectares of heathland - an equivalent to 100 football pitches - were destroyed in the blaze.

See all the pictures of the heath fire at St Catherine's Hill and the aftermath in a gallery

Gary Powell of the charity called for the arsonists responsible to turn themselves in.

"I wouldn't like to meet the person or people responsible right now," he said.

"They need to be brought to justice, they've done a huge amount of damage. I don't understand how someone could do something like this."

Creatures from dozens of species have been wiped out by the ferocious fire.

Thanks to the efforts of volunteers, a number of snakes and lizards were rescued from the scorched heathland, including a rare smooth snake, which was miraculously unharmed.

Gary said: "The fire was on a huge scale.

"It's devastating and will have a long-term effect. It'll take 15 years before we get anywhere near the same habitat here again."

Firefighters confirmed that the blaze was started deliberately.

It was set at three locations before it raged throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

Crews also remained at the scene until the early hours of the morning.

However, patches of the ravaged landscape smouldered and smoked well into yesterday afternoon.

Richard Johnson, who works for the trust ,said: "It's devastating.

"We've been managing the habitat here since the late 1980s. The heather won't support wildlife again for around 15 years. It's terrible."

Jenny Pitcher, on holiday visiting her parents from Edinburgh, quickly donned her wellies to support the charity workers' efforts.

Working alongside mum Margaret, she told the Daily Echo: "It's really sad to look at how much has been destroyed by the fire.

"A lot of work has gone on for a long time to improve this habitat."

The full scale of the blaze was laid bare yesterday after the flames were finally extinguished.

Hidden in the blackened grass and heather were the bodies of small creatures, including snakes, lizards and rodents.

Gary said: "I've seen a heath fire covering half a hectare before, and we found all six species of British reptile dead in that area.

"Imagine what has been lost here."

The deliberate blaze - one of the biggest ever seen in Dorset - was started by arsonists at three different locations "in quick succession".

Dorset Fire and Rescue station commander Richard Coleman said the fire, which has destroyed a vast expanse of land at St Catherine's Hill, was fought by firefighters in "difficult and dangerous conditions".

"This is a beautiful area of heathland," he said.

"[The fire] is one of the biggest we have had in Dorset in terms of the amount of heathland involved."

He urged anyone with information about the blaze to contact Dorset Police, and said it had caused "an awful lot of destruction".

Firefighters worked at the scene for almost 13 hours in a bid to extinguish the fire, which was dangerously accelerated by high winds.

At the height of the inferno, around 80 firefighters were at the scene as flames leapt up to 35 feet in the air.

Scores of dog walkers and ramblers were directed away from the blaze by police, as at one point strong winds fanned a 400-metre fire front at dangerous speeds.

Residents from as far away as Wimborne and Castlepoint reported seeing smoke billowing into the sky as strong winds fuelled the flames.

Crews left the site at 2am yesterday morning, returning later to monitor the site of the blaze.

Police have also issued an appeal for anyone with information to step forward.

Sergeant Alex Smith, of Christchurch police, said it is believed that three separate fires were deliberately started in quick succession, one at land near to the Avon Causeway known locally as town common, a second at St Catherine’s Hill near to the water towers and a third near to Woodbury Close.

“This was a large fire that damaged a significant area of heathland and wildlife habitat," the Sergeant said.

“We believe the fire was started deliberately and I am appealing for witnesses or anyone with any information to come forward.

“If anyone saw anything suspicious in the area at the time, please contact us in strict confidence on 101.”

No arrests have yet been made.

Witnesses and anyone with information should call Dorset Police in confidence on 101 quoting incident number 31:217.