A GORSE fire on a Flintshire mountain has raised concerns among nearby residents.

North Wales Fire and Rescue were called reports of a gorse fire on Brynford Road at around 5.45pm on Sunday.

The flames, which were seen ignited 20m away from a nearby property, suddenly engulfed an caused numerous fires in nearby bushes, residents said.

About 500 square metres of grassland has been scorched, and firefighters are concerned about 40 tonnes of manure near the flames.

Gwenda Jones, of the nearest bungalow to the fire, reported the blaze to the authorities shortly after 5.30pm on Sunday.

Speaking yesterday, she said: "I was standing at the table facing the other way, making food, and I turned around and I just saw this 'whoosh' - it was like a volcano but it was a flare instead of lava.

"It started just outside my house, but luckily the breeze was blowing the other way. If it was blowing my way, I would have been in big trouble.

"It was dreadful, the fire service have been here since 5am this morning. I asked them at 6.45am what was going on but they couldn't say anything.

"The gorse should be cleared, it's not safe - as the firefighters say, properties are more important than the gorse."

Farmer Ifan Jones said: "The flames just went up. Luckily all the livestock were away. It just keeps spreading - I've got £2,000 worth of hay in [a] barn over and if that sparks up, that'll be it."

Neighbours, cyclists, and walkers looked on as two pumps tackled the scorch on Sunday evening. Yesterday morning, the flames looked to be extinguished, but firefighters still tackled the remains of the inferno throughout Monday afternoon.

A spokesman for North Wales Fire and Rescue said: "Crews distinguished around 400-500 square metres of gorse fire.

"Two hose reels were used, and a supplement water device, and a dividing breach," which is as a device used to separate large parts of grass to avoid flames jumping from one patch to another.

The spokesman confirmed this fire was a "reignition from a previous incident" on Brynford Road, which the Leader reported on Sunday, May 27.