A31 closure extended on fifth day of New Forest wildfire

Meanwhile Forestry England rangers have been dealing with a series of other outbreaks across the New Forest.

Multiple smaller fires have broken out in the national park, five of which around Lyndhurst in the past few days.

Recreation ranger Beck Sheehan said she had “never seen anything like it” in the five years she had worked there.

“Just yesterday, it felt like my phone was going off every 30 minutes, every hour, with a new incident, whether it was a fire, a re-ignition, people having barbecues.

“It feels just so relentless to see it up in flames so many times, so close together.

“It’s terrifying, but it’s so sad.”

Forestry England is calling for more than 100 independent camping businesses to follow its lead and ban campfires, BBQs and firepits on their sites in the New Forest.

A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is already in place to ban the lighting of fires of any type including any outdoor cooking facilities and equipment, as well as placing, throwing or dropping items likely to cause a fire in the open.