Hankley Common habitat fears after wildfire sweeps through

Reptile habitats on a nature reserve in Surrey will take decades to recover after being burnt by wildfires this weekend, a charity has said.

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) said sections of Hankley Common, in Thursley, that it uses for conservation, plus areas it maintains for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have been affected.

Howard Inns, vice-chairman of the ARC, said this year’s hot weather had caused the first fire on this section of Hankley Common since 1947.

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has been “damping down” after the blaze which swept through at least eight hectares (20 acres) on Saturday.

At its height, 16 fire engines were at the scene of the fire which broke out at about 16:00 BST, according to nearby residents.

Six fire engines remained at the scene on Sunday.

Mr Inns said as soon as they were allowed by SFRS, they would go into the area in the hope of finding any surviving reptiles.

The heathland is also home to ground-nesting birds, including nightjars and skylarks and has been used as a Hollywood film set, including for the James Bond film Skyfall, and the Marvel movie Black Widow.

Mr Inns said: “It takes decades to repair. It was one of the best sites for reptiles in Surrey, if not the country.”

He said the ARC was seeing habitats taking “noticeably longer” to repair following forest fires due to hotter, drier summers which, with breezes, created an environment ripe for wildfires.

“If the rest of the summer is like this it will be harder for anything to grow through,” he said.

“The environmental bank balance of investing all that time into these sites is reset to zero. It’s burnt all of our investment.

Rob Jenks, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service group commander, told Radio Surrey: “The ground underneath is very dry with the significant heat we have had in the last few weeks and months.”

He said the cause of the fire had yet to be determined, and urged residents to be mindful of bonfires and barbecues during the heatwave, which can “spread very quickly to a serious fire” if not monitored properly.