MY thoughts this week have been very much with the firefighters battling blazes across our moorland.

Firefighters from across the country, co-ordinated by a Home Office-funded team in Merseyside, have been working in very difficult conditions on fires in Saddleworth Moor and Winter Hill for some days.

The fire at Winter Hill, which comes under my constituency, has been declared a major incident with suspicions that the fire was deliberately started – it seems absolute madness that someone would deliberately start a fire that has led to so much damage and put peoples’ lives in such danger.

Unbelievably, I have had constituents contact me with reports of other people deliberately starting fires with branches in grass and in bins.

Only last week was there another large grass fire about half a mile long in Leigh, which could have very easily turned into something more serious.

What could start as a simple fire can, with the dry conditions we’ve been having, quickly turn into something much more serious.

If you’re thinking about starting a fire – just don’t bother. The fire service are extremely busy as it is.

If you are out and about walking in the countryside, please be careful.

Fires can be started even by accident – by cigarette butts and even leaving glass bottles on grass can lead to a fires when sunlight shines through them.

Disposable BBQs are also extremely dangerous as the hot metal trays can start fires as soon as they touch dry grass.

The fires have had devastating consequences for our beautiful countryside, which I know many residents enjoy walking around. We may not see the scale of the damage until the fire has completely burned out.

The weather forecast looks like we’re not due to get any rain anytime soon.

With the dry conditions set to continue, this will make things even more challenging for the fire service, particularly with the wind we have been having.

I met with the Fire Minister, Nick Hurd, last week in Parliament to update him on the concerns my constituents have over the fire and he assured me that he was in close contact with fire chiefs and has stated that the government will provide the fire service with any support that they need.

I’ll also be paying a visit to Winter Hill soon to meet with the Fire Service and wonderful volunteers from Bolton Mountain Rescue to thank them in person and see the scale of the damage.

Please stay away from the area around Winter Hill, including the roads, while the fire is still blazing and please be careful when you’re out and about in the countryside or in one of our lovely parks.

Let’s hope this fire goes out soon but we may have to wait for the sunshine to end with an almighty thunderstorm.