TRAINS had to be halted this afternoon as fire crews tackled a track side fire.

Crews from Bentham and Reeth fire stations were called to a report of a fire on the track side near Blea Moor signal box.

En-route the teams requested the Argocat-six-wheel amphibious all-terrain vehicle- from Skipton fire station to attend ‘due to the location of the smoke spotted from the road’.

On arrival crews discovered approximately 90 metres of track side that had been on fire with ‘pockets’ of fire still flaring up.

The Westmorland Gazette:

A spokesman from Bentham fire station said: “Once network rail confirmed the rail had stopped, we were able to proceed down the track with beaters and backpack sprayers.

“The argocat soon joined us to provide more water.

“The incident was dealt with working alongside network rail. They were able to safely reopen one line whilst the crew worked on the other side.”