By JULIA RAVENSCR'FT

MINDLESS children set fire to a field in Appleton, preventing firefighters from attending a house in Lymm where two dogs were caught in a blaze.

Two crews from Stockton Heath fire station raced to Dale Lane, where two acres of field were ablaze at 6.30pm on Friday, August 11.

It took the crews one-and-a-half hours to extinguish the fire, which left the field charred and blackened and destroyed a farmers crop.

Because of the blaze, Stockton Heath firefighters could not attend a house fire on Massey Brook Lane, Lymm, which was caused by a chip pan and had trapped two dogs inside.

Crews from Warrington had to tackle the blaze and save the dogs, but took longer reaching the scene because their station is further away than Stockton Heath.

Ian Sibert, leading firefighter at Stockton Heath, said he thought that children had possibly been playing with matches and had run off when they realised how serious the fire was.

He said: Parents should try to stop their children getting hold of matches and lighters. They like playing with fire because it is pretty and this time it was only a field that was affected.