Two men charged with arson after disposable barbecue started fire in country park

Both men, from Lincolnshire, are due to appear in court on 15 September

(Getty Images)

Two men arrested in connection with a fire at a public park in Norfolk have been charged with arson.

Aleksejs Sokolovs, 45, of Valentine Close, Boston, Lincolnshire, and Darius Lazausaks, also 45 and of Carlton Road, Boston, Lincolnshire, are both accused of arson with intent to damage property after a blaze broke out at Bawsey Country Park, near King’s Lynn.

Emergency services were called to the area around 11.40am on Sunday after a disposable BBQ was allegedly thrown into woodland, causing a small fire which was put out by members of the public.

Two men were detained at the scene by an off-duty police officer and taken to King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre for questioning before being charged.

Both men have been released on conditional bail and will appear before King’s Lynn Magistrates court on Thursday 15 September.

There have been several fires across the UK in recent weeks amid the ongoing dry and hot conditions.

The soaring temperatures have caused wildfires to increase by nearly 500 per cent, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service warned over the weekend, as drought conditions put pressure on the water supply in parts of the UK.

Jason Moncrieff, the area manager for Dorset and Wiltshire, said the service was “massively stretched” by the increase in wildfire incidents in the region.

“It is a massive difference. The first 10 days of August this year versus last year, there were 492 per cent more of these types of fires," he said.

"So that’s field fires, grass fires, heathland fires – all those sorts of fires in the open, a 492 per cent increase this year."

He added that a fire on Friday on the Studland peninsula near Purbeck was caused by an outdoor barbeque so could have been avoided.

Supermarket chains such as Tesco, Asda and Morrison have temporarily removed disposable barbeques from their shelves in a bid to reduce the risk of fire.