A SERIES of fires took place across North Yorkshire over the bank holiday weekend.

Yesterday, fire crews from Pickering and Kirkbymoorside dealt with what is thought to be a deliberate fire affecting an outbuilding and 60 metres of hedgerow in Stape, near Pickering.

Fire crews were also called to a house fire in Runswick Bay, near Whitby, yesterday.

Radiated heat from a faulty flue had ignited the timber beams in the roof. The owners tried to put the fire out with a garden hose before crews arrived.

Crews helped protect the burnt roof from weather damage with tarpaulins and will revisit the site to ensure it is safe.

Meanwhile, on Sunday night, crews from Northallerton put out several small fires in the woods at Codbeck Reservoir, Osmotherley. About 30sq metres of undergrowth was on fire. It was thought to be caused after camp fires were left unattended.

On Saturday, a thatched cottage in Long Marston, near York, was damaged in a blaze. No one was injured but firefighters had to remove the thatch from the roof to fight the fire.