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Fire warning issued ahead of Ladies Day races

Jasmine Lowe,in Beverleyand
Eleanor Maslin,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
BBC A man wearing black sunglasses and a navy cap is wearing a red polo shirt and looking to the side with a serious expression. The background is blurred but you can make out fields of dry pasture and some trees.BBC
Allan English from Beverley Pasture Masters urged racegoers not to discard cigarettes or start barbecues

Ladies Day racegoers are being urged not to start a barbeque or drop cigarettes due to the risk of starting a fire on 600 acres of pasture land.

The plea was issued ahead of Wednesday's race meeting at Beverley. The course is opposite the Westwood, where people will be able to park for the event.

Allan English, chair of the Pasture Masters at Beverley Westwood said, due to the dry ground conditions, it "only needs a small spark to start a fire".

He said: "The whole lot could go up in smoke and that would be the end of the Westwood as a pasture. It would be devastating."

An aerial view of Beverley Westwood, a pasture full of cattle, surrounded by trees and the neighbourhood of Beverley. The pasture is beige, dry and scorched due to the hot, dry weather.
Beverley Westwood has been left scorched due to weeks of hot, dry weather

Beverley Racecourse attracts thousands of visitors, with Ladies Day among its most popular meetings.

English said: "It worries us that people will come with a picnic or barbeque which we have advised against.

"I'd be devastated and I think the people of Beverley would be if anything happened to the Westwood through sheer neglect of somebody just being irresponsible with a cigarette or a barbeque in the conditions we have at the moment.

"It would just be suicide to the Westwood."

'Have respect'

English, who has been part of the pasture group for about 40 years, said there were cattle on the Westwood, which would have to be "moved off as quickly as possible" if a fire started.

There are also trees on the site which have "been there for hundreds of years", English added.

"I'm just hoping they leave responsibly and don't chuck any bottles on the Westwood or leave any rubbish.

"Have a good time and enjoy yourself, but just have respect for where you are," he urged.

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