Cheshire Fire Service chiefs have welcomed a move by supermarkets to remove disposable barbecues from shelves.
County fire crews were called to at least 25 fires involving disposable barbecues between April and July.
Marks and Spencer and Aldi led the way after the recent heatwave sparked scores of incidents involving the products.
During three days of the heatwave in July, Cheshire Fire attended more than 177 incidents.
There were several large-scale incidents including a farm fire near Frodsham, a major incident in Middlewich and significant weather-related fires at Rixton, Mow Cop and Delamere Forest.
And a number of smaller scale fires were caused by discarded disposable barbecues.
Area Manager Lee Shears, Cheshire Fire Service head of prevention and protection, said: “While it is uncommon for us to be called out to several large-scale incidents within a short space of time, sadly it isn’t uncommon for us to be called to deal with grass and woodland fires caused by people not taking enough care in the countryside.
“We have seen an increasing number of these fires being started because the safe use, extinguishing and removal of disposable barbecues is not fully considered.
“The decision to not stock these items by Marks and Spencer and, indeed, Aldi is extremely welcomed not only by us but by other fire and rescue services across the UK.”
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