FIREFIGHTERS spent two hours tackling a grass fire at a nature reserve next to Port Mea-dow in North Oxford.

Ten firefighters were called to Burgess Hill Nature Park when the blaze broke out at 11.15pm on Wednesday.

The two fire crews from Rewley Road used shovels to stamp out the fire and stop it spreading.

Oxfordshire Fire Service said the blaze was being treated as accidental, and nothing was found at the scene to indicate the fire had been started deliberately.

But Oxford City Council reminded people lighting fires in its parks and open spaces posed a threat to wildlife and was not permitted.

Mark Jones, 48, from Headington, who keeps a 40ft narrow boat next to the meadow, was enjoying a barbecue with friends when the blaze started.

He said: “We saw this massive glow above the trees and smoke was blllowing out.

“At first we thought St Edward’s School was on fire but then we realised it was the nature reserve.

“The grass is about 4ft high in some places in the nature reserve so the flames will have spread very quickly.

“If there had been any wind at all the whole nature reserve could have gone up.”

Mr Jones said lots of people used the meadow for barbecues and added: “If we have a barbecue we always make sure we do not leave any embers burning.”

Richard Burley, 74, from Summertown, who walks his daughter’s dog on Port Meadow, added: “You can see logs and evidence of camp fires at the nature reserve.”

Photographer Adrian Arbib, 48, from Jericho, said: “Port Meadow itself won’t catch fire because it is grazed and the grass is short, but I’m not surprised there was a fire at the nature reserve. It has been so dry the countryside is like a tinderbox.”

The 90-acre Burgess Hill site is run by the city council’s parks department.

It was once a refuse tip but was then reclaimed and set aside as a nature park.

Its long grass shelters mice and voles and since 1986 several small copses have been planted.

Fiona Colcutt, a spokesman for the city council, said: “The grass fire at Burgess Hill Nature Park has resulted in scorched scrub and there is some damage to a hedge that will require pruning later in the year to help restore it.

“This incident serves as a reminder that lighting fires in our parks and open spaces is unsafe and poses a danger to wildlife and is therefore not permitted.”