UP to 100 firefighters battled a two square-mile moorland fire as soaring temperatures sparked flames on dry land near Colne.

Eight pumps from Colne and Nelson and three from West Yorkshire worked throughout the night at the Forest of Trawden.

The fire began about 1pm yesterday and spread from the Lancashire/Yorkshire border to the former Herders Inn, in Lancashire Moor Road, Laneshawbridge.

A helicopter was drafted in to monitor the fire, which continued to smoulder last night.

Crews used water from nearby reservoirs for extra supplies to control the flames.

Smoke could be seen for miles around the moorland and surrounding roads were closed throughout the rush hour.

The fire was the most dramatic of three moorland fires in East Lancashire, where the hot weather made land tinder dry.

Fire broke out at the Coppice on the outskirts of Accrington, where firefighters battled for seven hours to control the flames.

And on land behind Sunnyhurst Lane, Darwen, crews were firefighting for more than two hours.

David Ripley, a builder at the Herders Inn, currently being transformed into houses, was at the scene all day.

He said: "We had to shut all the windows. We could see it coming closer and closer. It was travelling behind the back of us here.

"The thick black smoke was choking us. By about 7.30pm they seemed to have it under control but they were here for a long time dampening down.

"It's never happened up here before.

"Luckily the grass is very short its well maintained and there is not very much to burn.

"But people are quite scared. It spreads so quickly you can see it."