Helston Town Council has issued a warning after a disposable BBQ which hadn't sufficiently cooled down set fire to a bin in Helston.

The incident took place on Tuesday, August 9 in the Sunken Garden. Fortunately the minor blaze was prevented from escalating further by a neighbouring business who alerted the council to the smoke fumes.

The flames were extinguished quickly by a member of the Town Warden team without the need for Cornwall Fire and Rescue service.

Helston Town Clark Pamela Lavelle told the Packet: "It's not a huge incident but it just highlighted an issue to make people aware of to ensure people take a little more care. Presumably somebody had a picnic in the Sunken Garden.

"They had a disposable BBQ. There were minors issues as to where they had it, with little scorched earth. But when it came to disposing of it they obviously thought it was safe to put it in the litter bin at that stage.

"But at that stage it hadn't fully cooled so it did start to burn in the bin. Luckily it was detected very quickly and was put out by the Town Warden without any significant damage being occurred.

"But obviously it highlights the potential that it could have been a lot worse particularly with current conditions and dryness of everywhere. It is more kind of an early warning for everybody."

It is fortunate that the incident was spotted hastily following a spate of fires in the Duchy in recent weeks with wild fires raging in the Malpas area of Truro as well as on the Helford Passage over the weekend.