A fire caused by youngsters lighting a campfire at a farm in Budleigh Salterton has prompted calls for young people to be taught more about being safe in the countryside.

On Friday, July 12, there was a fire at South Farm, near Budleigh Salterton. The blaze began after a group of young men built a campfire in a den they had built on the farm's land.

Farmer Nick Pyne said: "You may have seen the fire and smoke coming from the iconic Budleigh tree line. Thankfully no one was hurt, and the fire brigade attended quickly and were able to put out the fire, but it could have been much worse."

The fire caused significant damage to a number of trees and the fire service had no choice but to travel across the farm's land to reach the fire, damaging its maize crop and irrigation pipes, 'which of course will have an impact on the farm income'.

"It's such a shame that some kids aren't taught to respect the countryside and to not ruin it for everybody, and to appreciate that they're lucky to live in an area of outstanding natural beauty," said Nick.

"They had apparently been going there regularly as there was already an enormous amount of litter left there which was not only an eyesore but also incredibly damaging for the delicate wildlife system in the estuary area which is an SSSI.

"There were also stolen road signs. And netting which could have caused injury to birds."

The police have been informed and will be monitoring the area and the farm has installed CCTV along a footpath leading to the area.

Nick added: "We very much hope that the lads responsible will learn a lesson from this incident and think twice about their actions next time, and maybe take some time to read the countryside code.

"Special care needs to be taken in this very hot dry spell as fires can spread very easily and cause considerable damage. It wasn't long ago that Woodbury Common was on fire."