Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Grass fires cost north-east taxpayers about £10,000 in recent weeks

The public has been warned about fire raising in the north-east
The public has been warned about fire raising in the north-east

North-east grass fires have cost the taxpayer more than £10,000 in recent weeks.

The shocking figures comes amid a spate of fires set at beaches and woodlands around Aberdeenshire this month.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is now warning the public about the effects such fires can have – including property damage and even the loss of life.

Group Manager Gordon Riddel, who manages prevention and protection for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray, said: “The SFRS is appealing in particular to young people during school holidays to consider the consequences of deliberately setting a fire.

“We would urge parents to ensure that their children know about and understand the potentially tragic consequences deliberate fires can have, as well as the impact for responding emergency services.

“Fire setting is an offence – don’t accept it, report it.”

Mr Riddel added that each call out costs the taxpayer about £1,000.

In the last month, the fire brigade has been called out to at least 10 incidents.

Last week, about 12,000sqft of grass was destroyed at Fraserburgh beach in a fire before gorse was again set alight in Aberdeen the following day.

Mr Riddel added: “We have attended a number of incidents recently whereby fires have been started deliberately and we would urge everyone about the very real dangers of becoming trapped within wildland fires.

“Sudden changes in wind direction can have an immediate effect on how a wildland fire reacts and such incidents can be extremely unpredictable. Furthermore, they can be hazardous to firefighters who respond to these fires.

“We will continue to work with our Police Scotland colleagues to ensure each incident is fully investigated, as much intelligence is gathered – and that perpetrators are ultimately caught.”