PICTURES: Fire affecting 12 acres along sea wall

UPDATED 9PM (WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST)

The fire was extinguished at 7.30pm. Crews are still at the scene dampening down.

A revisit will take place in the morning.

The cause has been recorded as accidental.

Crews have surrounded a fire affecting 12 acres (5 hectares) of grass and woodland in Tollesbury.

We were called to reports of a fire in the open at Old Hall Marshes today at 10.30am.

Our Control teams initially sent crews from Colchester and West Mersea but, due to the high number of calls they were receiving, they also sent a crew from Maldon.

Additional crews from Maldon, Witham, Braintree, Wivenhoe and Chelmsford attended along with:

• Two Off-Road Vehicles, from Billericay and Manningtree
• an Incident Command Unit, from Hawkwell
• a Water Bowser, from Halstead, to increase the water supply
• our Urban Search and Rescue team with a drone

Group Manager Dan Partridge said: "The fire was spreading rapidly along the sea wall, due to the dry and windy conditions, so our Control teams sent additional resources.

"Crews worked incredibly hard in really challenging conditions to stop it from spreading, protecting three cottages and two farm buildings.

"They have surrounded the fire but there will be a large amount of smoke in the area of the next couple of hours as they continue to extinguish it.

"I'd like to thank residents and visitors for their patience and support."

Old Hall Marshes is run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)

Station Manager Dan Kirk said: "We are working alongside the RSPB and the Environment Agency to mitigate the damage to the site, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

"Thanks to the efforts of crews, we have managed to stop the fire from spreading to the ancient grazing marsh.

"We would ask members of the public to continue to avoid the area while we bring the incident to a conclusion."

It is believed the fire started when a vehicle cutting grass caught fire.