Rain or Shine...

MOAN ALL you like about last summer being a damp squib in Britain but at least the fire brigade were happy. Wet weather last summer helped to cut the number of fires in woods, commons, fields, heaths and moorland by nearly a quarter, according to figures published yesterday.

Fire brigades attended just under 190,000 outdoor blazes which did not involve the loss of property in 1998, 23 per cent fewer than in the previous year.