Grassland destroyed in blaze

?A fire rapidly swept across grassland, with flames reaching 20ft as firefighters battled to contain it.

The ferocious blaze, the cause of which is under investigation today, destroyed 21,500 sq ft of North Common, off Norton Road, Pelsall, yesterday.

Firefighters from seven stations were called to the scene at 1.26pm. The blaze burned for about 40 minutes with flames quickly spreading because of a strong wind.

When the flames had died down, crews trawled the area to see if anything had succumbed to the fire, but did not find anything.

Crew commander Chris Hands, from Walsall fire station, said: "It was a very large fire. The flames were 20ft high. We had to close Norton Road because of smoke passing over it.

"The fire went over the road from one side to the other."

He added:"It spread very quickly. The wind was strong so it was racing."

Shocked pub-goers watched firefighters tackle the blaze from the nearby Fingerpost pub and restaurant.

Delivery driver and father-of-two Richie Night, aged 59, of Sandstone Road, Bloxwich, said: "They were really big flames. It was bad. There was lots of smoke. I was amazed.

"It's awful really for local wildlife more than anything."