Fire on clifftop at Boscombe Pier

Fire fighters were called to the clifftop next to the pier around 7.10pm.

Smoke could be seen from along the coast, with beachgoers gathering on the sand to watch the crews work to extinguish the blaze.

The aerial ladder platform was called to the scene to access the fire, with the road closed along the seafront to allow emergency services access to the fire.

Bournemouth East Cliff Goats said the animals were safe after many expressed concern over their welfare.

The fire was extinguished within two hours.

A fire officer at the scene told the Daily Echo: “We were called at approximately 7.10pm to reports of a fire on the gorse on the undercliff between the two piers.

“There’s a lot of wind in the area tonight as well which hasn’t helped matters, so we had quite a lot of rapid fire spread but we had a lot of resources here in the early phases who were able to knock it down quite quickly.

Photo by David Kunzi

“We did close the undercliff more for security and precaution for everybody else, we’ve had five appliances here and our aerial ladder platform as well, so we’ve utilised that to keep people safe and extinguish the fire.

“We’ll be here for another hour or so damping down, you always get a few hot spots so we’re just going through the motions of staying here for a while just to make sure we’re happy before we leave.

Read more: LIVE: Fire on cliffside at Boscombe beach - people told to avoid area

“We have no information about the cause at the moment, I will be doing investigations to see what the outcome was but it’s too early to tell. I will look at the CCTV in the area, if there is any available, to determine the cause but it can be very hard.”

One eyewitness said: "About 15 minutes after it started we saw it, so we stood in the street and saw it on top of the trees, it was spreading with the wind and blowing smoke.

Photo by Kelly Abraham

“So we followed it down and sat on the beach and watched it and it kept spreading. It took quite a while to put it out. We were concerned that the wind would change direction, my neighbours were getting worried.”