SHORTLY after day-time flight displays ended on the opening day of this year's Bournemouth Air Festival, firefighters rushed along the promenade to deal with a cliffside blaze.

Air festival organisers urged spectators to keep clear of the area while Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service dealt with the fire at East Cliff.


Three fire engines were initially dispatched to deal with the drama around 6pm, which involved trees and bushes alight between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers.

Just over an hour previously tens of thousands of air festival spectators packed out every available vantage point to watch the afternoon’s entertainment.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire involved an area measuring 30m x 30m.

Overall, six pumps attended along with an aerial ladder platform, water carrier, command support unit and eight officers.

The fire has been tackled with two main lines, one hose and one main line from the ladder platform.

However, the emergency services managed to deal with the incident in time for the Night Air displays to go ahead as scheduled.