TEN fire appliances were called to tackle a blaze on heathland at Three Legged Cross last night.

An area of around 150m x 50m was damaged and now firefighters are liaising with police to determine the cause.

Light 4x4 pumps from Hamworthy, Poole, Christchurch, Wimborne, Ferndown and Verwood attended, along with fire engines from Poole, Wimborne and Ferndown, a water carrier from Ringwood and a Unimog from Wareham.

Firefighters used hose reel jets to contain and extinguish the fire, which was out by 10pm.

A crew from Ferndown also carried out a reinspection this morning.

The fire comes just weeks after a devastating incident which destroyed large areas of Wareham Forest.

Devastating fire at Wareham Forest

A spokesman for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue said they are liaising with police "as there have been a lot of fires in this area lately."

Crews also dealt with a small fire at the entrance to the Plantation at West Moors just after 9pm.

Bracken covering an area of around 5m x 5m was affected and crews from Redhill Park and Christchurch attended.

At 9.07pm, there was a small fire at the entrance to the Plantation at West Moors, affecting approx. 5m x 5m of bracken, a fire engine from Redhill Park and a light 4x4 pump from Christchurch attended and used two hose reel jets to extinguish, with the stop just after 10pm.