PEOPLE looking after Canford Heath have announced the number of deceased wildlife following the huge blaze on Saturday.

A Facebook post by Poole's Heathland has announced the findings of multiple dead animals as a result of the fire, which saw an area of heathland equivalent to 23 football pitches destroyed.

The findings included more than 40 slow-worms, three adders, one smooth snake, one sand lizard, one common toad and three pygmy shrews.

A hedgehog trying to escape the blaze was also sadly run over by fire engines arriving on site.

The search of the burnt site also saw surviving reptiles moved to safe habitats, and a significant amount of litter cleared from the heathland.

The post by Poole Heathland said: “We owe a huge thank you to everyone who turned out to help us with the aftermath of last Saturday’s fire.

"We were joined by teams from Forestry England, the BCP Countryside Team, the Urban Heaths Partnership, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, Wildlife Windows, Dorset Wildlife Trust, Firewise Communities, Dorset Dogs and our regular volunteer teams.

“We would also like to thank the volunteers who carried out a litter pick in the area we moved the cattle into and for checking the cattle over the last few days, it really helped take the pressure off staff.”