PEOPLE are being reminded about the risks of lighting open fires and barbeques in the New Forest National Park. 

Officers from New Forest Heart Cops had to extinguish a barbeque at Park Pale, just outside Lyndhurst, at the weekend. 

In a post to Facebook, they said: “Please remember that open fires and BBQS are not allowed anywhere as the fire risk is already at severe across the whole of the New Forest.” 

People are urged to contact 101 and ask for the police or Forestry England if they see a lit barbeque. 

It follows an amber alert issued by Forestry England for the New Forest earlier in the year after a spell of warm weather, amid concerns that wildfires could have broken out. 

Fire incidents in the New Forest are usually caused by campfires and disposable barbeques, even though they are banned in the area.