A WOMAN has told of the moment her picnic at a beauty spot was interrupted… by a wildfire.

Firefighters from across the county rushed to a huge blaze on Devil’s Dyke on Thursday that engulfed 200 square metres of grassland at its peak.

In the thick of the drama was Coral Grainger, 23, who was enjoying an early evening picnic with friends as the wildfire began to break out shortly after 5pm.

Residents could see the billowing smoke from their windows

Residents could see the billowing smoke from their windows

The Horsham woman said: “So we were having a picnic facing the pretty view when a couple of people on a quad bike come tearing across the field and driving off behind us.

“We thought it was just some local people having fun, but then we turned around and saw smoke rising up from the field behind us.

“We thought it was a bonfire, or a car on fire, but it got bigger and the fire seemed to be coming from more than one spot, then we stared hearing emergency vehicles coming from the town below.

“After our food we went off exploring towards the smoke and wanted to see what was going on.”

Residents from Hangleton to Lancing reported they could see the smoke billowing into the sky from the blaze.

The scene as Ms Graingers picnic was ruined by a wildfire

The scene as Ms Grainger's picnic was ruined by a wildfire

Crews from Horsham, Burgess Hill, Henfield, Hove and Brighton battled to control the flames.

A water carrier from Burgess Hill and an incident command unit from Haywards Heath were also called.

They were joined by off-road vehicles from Crawley and Horsham, as well as the service’s technical rescue unit, which used a drone.

Ms Grainger said: “The people in the quad bike then came back and were helping the police put out ‘road accident’ signs.

“Lots of fire trucks started turning up and a few fire cars and police vans.

“We walked along the field on our side and watched the fire crew go to work, most of them were standing around I think they were all called in but didn’t have room to help so waited for more instruction.

“The smoke got bigger and darker and even more fire trucks showed up.

“We continued walking along and the fire died out a bit but did seem to be coming from multiple locations.

“More fire trucks showed up and we couldn’t see much through the hedge.

“The smoke seemed to die down and we went back to the car, the road was closed further along the road and there was a big police presence.”

The emergency services were then joined by off-road vehicles from Crawley and Horsham, as well as the service’s technical rescue unit, which used a drone.

The fire was mostly out by 8pm.

Firefighters stayed overnight keeping to ensure no further reignition.

On Friday morning, relief crews carried out a reinspection to ensure there are no further hotspots.