Local residents are ‘concerned’ about fires being set in woods near them. Nottingham Police have been patrolling the Sharphill Woods in Edwalton after reports of deliberate fires being started. The 23-acre woodland is designated as a local nature reserve and is a popular spot for dog walkers.
“It really isn’t good that people are doing things like this,” said Jane Mears, a professional dog walker. “It’s such a lovely area. Because of my job I come here most days, so I really hope they do something about it."
“I do think that they need to put more signposts up to let people know that they can’t have fires here because I reckon some will just be doing it innocently,” the 57-year-old added.
There has been woodland on the site since 1835 and can be found in its current shape on an Ordnance Survey map of 1887. Jill Bright, whose house borders the wood in Grainger Avenue, said: “It’s really shocking, to be honest, I had to go up there last year and put a fire out. We had to take buckets of water up to the wood and put it out but it was still smouldering and that was at 9am the next morning."
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“I thought it might have got better but it clearly hasn’t, I often here loud noises coming from the woods late at night as well,” said the 64-year-old. Linda Roucroft, 70, added: “I think it’s disgusting that people do stuff like that especially with all the wildlife in the woods.”
The Sharphill Woods are home to up to 30 different breeds of bird. Ms Roucroft added: “It’s the same with people who leave litter, if you asked them if they wanted to have a picnic at a rubbish tip, they’d say no so I don’t know why they leave it.”
Femi Colton, Nottinghamshire Fire District Manager, said: “We take deliberate fire setting very seriously at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service. Not only do deliberate fires put people at risk, they take us away from other emergencies.” If you have any information about deliberate fire setting in your community report it anonymously to FireStoppers on 0800 169 5558.
