Wirral marshland fire: Three teenage boys released on conditional bail

Three teenagers who were arrested on suspicion of arson after a huge wildfire swept through a marshland nature reserve on the Wirral peninsular at the weekend have been released on conditional bail.

The boys - two aged 13 and one 14 - were arrested on Monday by Cheshire Police.

Six fire engines tackled the blaze, which started just before before 6:30pm on Saturday, and covered around 1 sq km of land of ‘special scientific interest’ at Parkgate.

Fighting the fire

Fire engines from Cheshire and Merseyside tackled the blaze for around 15 hours, using beaters and hose reel jets.

Fire breaks were also put in place to protect nearby properties as two areas of fire spread around the marshland.

The fire was eventually left to burn out as fire crews retreated because of unstable ground.

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service station manager Carl Nevitt said: “The fire covered over one square kilometre of the area and was being driven by wind.

“We created fire breaks to protect properties and the police air support unit was used to give us information on the directional spread of the blaze.

“We were at the scene for some fifteen hours, leaving just before 10am this morning (Sunday 20 March) having monitored the area overnight after the flames were extinguished.”