A DISCARDED cigarette caused a fire which engulfed nearly 300 acres of moorland, the National Trust said today.

A few isolated pockets were still alight this afternoon, but most of the blaze, which was reported yesterday afternoon at Marsden Moor in Scammonden, near Huddersfield, has been put out.

The fire caused widespread damage to land, as well as endangering the lives of nesting birds and other wildlife in the area.

A spokesperson for the National Trust said they believed the fire was started by a cigarette dropped on the A640 road at Buckstones.

Gemma Wren, countryside manager at Marsden Moor, said: "We have yet to fully gain access to the area following the fire but I'm already saddened by the prospect of what faces the team up there.

"It is likely that a carelessly discarded cigarette has caused this fire and I urge all visitors to think more carefully when travelling across the moor, to extinguish cigarettes responsibly and also take all rubbish home with them.

"The moor is a Special Protection Area for birds and where the fire broke out, we know that nesting birds including curlew, golden plover and twite will have been affected.

"We can only hope that some escaped the blaze and will be able to nest again."

Four pumps

Two fire engines from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service assisted four pumps from their colleagues in Greater Manchester to fight the fire.

Overnight rain was a welcome arrival to help extinguish the majority of the blaze, said a spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

Fire fighters were also today finishing the job of extinguishing a separate fire on moorland around Baitings Reservoir above Ripponden, on the Yorkshire-Lancashire border.

Strong winds fanned the fire yesterday, and at one stage there was a two-mile-long fire front along the side of the main A58 road between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

"Damping down"

Crews from three fire engines from West Yorkshire kept watch on the blaze overnight but this morning a spokesman said this had been reduced to two crews "damping down".

At its peak more than 60 firefighters battled the blaze. No property was in danger and although two firefighters were slightly hurt there were no reports of major injuries.

It is not known what started the fire, which began at around 6.30am yesterday, and at one stage covered just under a square mile of moors.

Fire chiefs described the incident as large scale.

Keith Robinson, senior officer for West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters had worked hard all day yesterday to contain the blaze.

Crews set up fire-breaks to stop it spreading and a fire officer went up in the West Yorkshire Police helicopter to get an aerial view of the incident.

Smoke from the fire was blown across a wide area below, mainly into Greater Manchester, including Rochdale and Oldham at the foot of the Pennines yesterday.

Tweet