Our family was out picking blackberries when we saw the smoke from the fire you reported (The Argus, August 26).

A couple who were drawn to the smoke as we were actually phoned the fire brigade.

This wasn't a wood store as you reported. It was a pile, some 20 feet high, of trees and undergrowth which seems to have been cleared as part of work on the industrial estate.

The pile might just as well have had a big sign on it saying "please set me alight".

We rightly moan about the vandalism which affects our towns but the contractors responsible for clearing the land and leaving this pile must take some responsibility for the cost and time wasted by the fire brigade to attend for three hours.

Why couldn't the waste have been taken away?

If we removed the temptation in the first place, we might not have to spend so much time clearing up.

-Nick Gregory, Burgess Hill