Smoke poured from a seafront bin after a disposable barbecue caught fire.
The item was thrown away in King's Esplanade, Hove, yesterday afternoon but caught alight as it had not been allowed to cool fully.
With plenty of people in the area due to the warm weather in the city yesterday, fire crews received a flurry of calls alerting them to the blaze.
An image of the fire shows a dark cloud of smoke emanating from one of the seafront bins.
Firefighters attended and extinguished the blaze. They were met with cheers from passers-by as they did so, a witness said.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has now issued a warning to anyone using disposable barbecues in public.
A spokeswoman said: "We were called at 4.18pm after receiving 27 repeat 999 calls at our East Sussex Fire Control and sent one fire engine to King's Esplanade.
"The bin was well alight and we used a hose reel jet to put it out. It was due to a disposable barbecue which was not properly out.
"We urge anyone using barbecues to use plenty of water on it once you’ve finished cooking and allow it to cool completely before disposing of it.
"If you are in public, you should also check whether you are actually allowed to use a BBQ at all as they can easily cause a fire, endangering lives and property."
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