A WOODLAND blaze near a village took firefighters nine hours to bring under control.

The fire covered an area measuring 50 sq m by the Codicote Road, in Ayot St Peter.

It started at 3pm on Sunday, and fire crews were still on the scene at midnight cooling “hotspots”, to prevent it spreading.

Firefighter Phil Reynolds, from Hatfield fire station, said: “It took a fair while to peter out. It couldn’t be described as an inferno, but it was ongoing.”

A fire spokeswoman said the cause was accidental.