Walkers airlifted from forest wildfire

Six walkers and a dog were airlifted to safety by a search and rescue helicopter in Scotland when a forest wildfire threatened to engulf them.

Two of the rescued people were walking in the Torridon Forest in the north-west Highlands of Scotland when they realised the danger and called for help. When the helicopter arrived the crew saw four more people and a dog close to the flames and took them to a safe area too.

A seventh person, a camper, was rescued by a lifeboat after getting cut off by flames on the Ardnish Peninsula near Arisaig.

In north-west England fire crews remained on high alert after spending four days dowsing fires on moorland at Belmont, Bacup and Ormskirk in Lancashire.