Officers investigating a blaze in three hectares of gorse at Carn Brea have said the fire was an accidental one which spread.

Firefighters spent most of the night tackling a large gorse fire on Carn Brea near Pool.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service received around 200 emergency calls, starting just before 9pm yesterday evening, and one fire engine was from Camborne, Pool & Redruth (CPR) Community Fire Station was sent to the scene, with crews requesting back up shortly after arrival.

A second engine was sent to the scene, where approximately 70 x 70 metres of medium to high gorse was alight, and as strong winds were fanning the flames another engine from CPR and one from Hayle, as well as a water carrier from Helston, were sent to help.

Just before 10pm a fire service spokesperson reported: "Approximately three hectares of gorse was well alight, the incident had been sectorised and was being approached from the top and bottom of the carn by firefighters using beaters."

At 10.10pm a fifth fire engine and six crew from Helston was called to standby at the CPR fire station.

In an update at around 11.30pm, a spokesperson said: "Good progress is being made on one front, a second front is being allowed to burn to a natural break. Western power has been informed of the incident due to the possibility of high flames affecting overhead cables. Police have also been requested to attend this area due to members of the public driving up to look at the fire and causing access problems."

By 7am, the fire was largely out, with one crew of five firefighters from Falmouth remaining on scene to damp down hotspots, and a specialist wild fire officer on scene to assess the situation during daylight hours and see if any further actions were required.