A model plane which burst into flames and crash-landed caused a forest fire which spread over half a hectare of land.

Fire crews spent more than seven hours at the scene after the old aircraft, which had a new battery, came down near to Bushy Willow Car Park in the Ashdown Forest.

The land was so dry that the fire spread quickly and at its height 21 firefighters from East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service tackled the blaze.

A forest firefighting vehicle from Crowborough was also sent to the fire which broke out at 2.12pm on Tuesday. Rangers guided firefighters into the forest where they tackled the blaze using beaters and flexi packs which hold about 20 litres of water and can be carried on a firefighter's back to places a fire engine is unable to reach.

Two pumping appliances and two Land Rovers attended and crews were at the scene until 9.57pm damping-down hotspots.

Watch Manager Bob Beard said: “These batteries have a habit of igniting whilst on charge but there have not been many reports of them catching fire while they are being flown.

“My advice is to find out if the battery is reliable and make sure the battery has no sign of damage and more importantly to have liability insurance and a licence if you want to fly it within the forest.

“The man was very concerned about the damage and even tried to do some firefighting himself.”