WET weather helped keep down the number of fire calls in Tyne and Wear, fire chiefs said last night.

Army units dealt with a total of 22 calls relating to 18 separate incidents, although it appears the public have heeded previous warnings and no hoax calls were made.

There were no fires of note across the region, with the most serious being a kitchen fire at a flat in Sunderland.

A Green Goddess answered an alarm call at about 2.30pm to a flat above the Oxfam charity shop, in Windsor Terrace, Grangetown. Gas workers were called out after fears of a gas leak from the property, but the fire was extinguished without incident.

Crews were sent to the scene of a lorry fire on the A19 in Sunderland at 10am, close to the Washington turn off, but the blaze was quickly extinguished.

A Government spokesman said: "We have been blessed with the weather being so drizzly and damp. The number of calls they had were very low indeed."

An Army unit in Seaham was sent on a wild goose chase after a resident called in saying smoke was coming from the town's football ground.

A Green Goddess was sent out and arrived at the ground to find it intact. The soldiers did spot a plume of smoke and thinking it was from a nearby church, raced to put out the flames.

The team found that the church also was intact and discovered that the smoke was coming from a bonfire in a nearby garden.

In Northumberland, a Green Goddesses answered 20 calls, mostly fires in skips and rubbish bins.