Firefighters raced to battle a major fire at a park in Exeter on Tuesday amid a worsening heatwave and drought conditions sweeping the country.

Smoke could been seen billowing over the city after a large fire broke out at in the Beacon Heath area on Tuesday afternoon.

Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service said a large grass fire had broken out at Mincinglake Valley Park just before 3pm and advised people to stay away.

“The incident has been sectorised, and crews are working to bring the fire under control and prevent it from spreading any further,” they said in a statement.

“Local residents are advised to keep their windows and doors closed. Please avoid the area to allow our crews to work on bringing the fire under control.”

Devon Wildlife Trust said in a statement: “Our immediate priority is the safety of people at the site and supporting the official response.

“We ask people to avoid the area and follow advice from the emergency services.”

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear. Nearly three-quarters of England is now in drought status after the country saw its driest July in 190 years.

August has so far seen just five per cent of the expected rainfall for the month, with warnings of more dry weather and highs of 36C to follow this week.

Officials from the National Drought Group assessed on Monday that 45 million people are now in affected areas, after the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs moved into drought status.

Did you see what happened? Contact james.reynolds@independent.co.uk

Fire crews separately battled blazes near Exeter airport after a forested area caught fire on Tuesday afternoon.

Multiple crews raced to the scene in Cranbrook in the early afternoon to tackle several fires including a blaze affecting a row of conifer trees and 10 square metres of standing crops.

“Crew are currently dealing with approximately 50m of Conifer trees that are on fire. Crew are working with hose reel jets and beaters to try and extinguish the fire,” they said in a statement.