Large blaze started on North York Moors - eight fire engines present

The fire is next to the heritage railway line between Goathland and Levisham.

North Yorkshire Moors Railway has tweeted that it has suspended its services temporarily between the two stops to allow the fire crews access to the site.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue sent eight fire engines and several all-terrain vehicles to fight the blaze at about 2pm.

At about 6.30pm the incident was scaled down, with just four fire crews remaining.

Train services between Goathland and Levisham have been temporarily suspended due access required by the Fire Brigade.

— NYMR (@nymr) May 9, 2016

One of the national park’s rangers, David Smith, is due to travel to the blaze to survey the damage this afternoon.

He said the fire had broken out across part of the national park’s Levisham estate.

He said: “I was called by a local gamekeeper who has been alerted to it.

“The fire service have been called out and they have the equipment to deal with it. My role will be to go out and survey the damage.”

Mr Smith said it was difficult to say at this stage what the impact the fire will have had on local wildlife.