FIRE crews tackled serious fires in a North Yorkshire forest.

The incident at Cropton Forest, near Pickering, began on Tuesday afternoon. Nine fire engines attended the scene.

Crews had been called in from across the county including Pickering, Malton, Easingwold and Whitby.

A water bowser and two specialist argocat all-terrain vehicles were used to cover two areas that were well ablaze.

At 9pm crews were with withdrawn from the "risk area" due to darkness falling but three engines are due to return tomorrow, along with specialist officers and the argocat.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: "Good progress has been made on all fire fronts."

He said large areas of fire had been extinguished using a variety of equipment.