Firefighters have been called to more than 100 grass fires across Wales in the past five days leading to warnings that the service is being stretched to the limit.

A number of small fires have been reported in the south of Powys and bigger blazes in North and South Wales.

Issuing a warning to the public today, the three Welsh fire services said some had been started deliberately, either maliciously or by controlled burning by land owners that got out of control.

In one of the most serious incidents in recent days firefighters from four stations spent about 12 hours dealing with a grass fire at Rhosilli Hill on Gower.

Dean Morgan, community safety manager for the Mid and West Wales Fire Service, said the blaze on Sunday was made all the more difficult as crews had to get to the fire on foot due to the terrain.

“Grass fires can have very serious consequences, these sort of fires are extremely dangerous and unpredictable, and they can quickly spread out of control,” he said.

“We have experienced a rise in grass and forestry fires in the past few weeks.

“Deliberate fire setting presents a serious risk of injury and death to the fire setter and also the firefighters who attend the incident to extinguish the fire.

“These fires prove a huge drain on resources and firefighters tackling these fires may be delayed in attending genuine emergencies such as people trapped in house fires or road accidents.”