A SENIOR firefighter has asked for the public's help after a spate of garden rubbish fires.

Crews at Whitehaven Fire Station have been called out to a number of rubbish fires in recent weeks and are now moving to warn people about avoiding unnecessary callouts.

Alan Whitham, crew manager at the station, said: "Just on my own shifts we have had a few recently.

"The weather is great, people are at home more and there is a lot of gardening going on. Those could all be factors."

Mr Whitham says a quick phone call to the fire service could save precious time for his crews.

"If you ring the control team and tell them what you are doing, if a neighbour rings it will show up in the system that it's a controlled burning," explained Mr Whitham.

"Usually well meaning people don't realise it is under control."

For those who are planning controlled burning, the senior firefighter has the following advice.

"Where possible, we want to get it contained. We want the fire to be in an incinerator."

Mr Whitham is pleading with the public to help.

"These things do happen, but they could be avoided if they phoned us prior to the fire."

The station manager has noticed an increase in callouts since the coronavirus lockdown began.

"They are up slightly from my personal experience. I haven't got stats to back that up, but it certainly seems that way."

Despite the extensive reach of coronavirus, crews in Whitehaven have managed to escape the worst of the virus.

"We've not been affected directly. No one has caught the virus thankfully, which is really good."

In response to coronavirus, Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service is following the latest government advice and restricting the amount of public access to community fire stations, as well as kitting firefighters with PPE.

Earlier in the month, the mayor of Copeland Mike Starkie hit out at "mindless" behaviour after rubbish was repeatedly set alight.

Mike Starkie condemned those responsible for repeatedly setting alight bags of household waste awaiting collection.

To report a controlled burning in advance, call 0300 303 8623.