Main road closure extended on day five of wildfire

Motorists prepare for another week of diversion routes as National Highways extended the closure of its main route through the New Forest.

The A31 has been shut since Sunday after a van fire started the blaze which spread to around 165 acres in the Ringwood and Stoney Cross area of the New Forest National Park.

National Highways said it would not reopen until next Thursday at the earliest.

This follows on the continuing efforts to tackle a huge heath fire in the forest, which has been stretching emergency services for five days.

The road is closed in both directions starting from the Ringwood roundabout.

It has led to long delays on diversion routes and concern about sat-nav taking drivers onto unsuitable roads through the forest.

The van fire on Sunday caused damaged to the road surface, which now needs resurfacing.

It also affected the wooden fencing that keeps the free-roaming cattle and ponies from getting onto the carriageway.

The diversions affect several areas, including Lyndhurst, Ringwood, Fordingbridge and Christchurch.

National Highways said the usual high August traffic would now be even worse and asked people to think before they travel.

About 130 firefighters are tending to the blaze, which is also taking place in the middle of UK's fifth heatwave of the year.

Firefighters in Dorset have said it's "unacceptable" they have not got the lightweight personal protective equipment (PPE) which the crews in Hampshire have been issued.

The fairness at work representative for the Dorset & Wiltshire FBU branch, Barney Hedgecock, said the PPE they wear "doesn't let the heat in or out, so it can lead to heat exhaustion if you're out in the blazing sun for hours and hours, which can happen with wildfires".

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service area manager Jason Moncrieff said the force had had to make "difficult decisions about how to prioritise funding and hadn't yet been able to invest in PPE".

He said it could be added as part of their wider 2026-29 modernisation programme if extra funding through council tax was secured.

Meanwhile Forestry England rangers have been dealing with a series of other outbreaks across the New Forest.

Multiple smaller fires have broken out in the national park, five of which around Lyndhurst in the past few days.

Recreation ranger Beck Sheehan said she had "never seen anything like it" in the five years she had worked there.

"Just yesterday, it felt like my phone was going off every 30 minutes, every hour, with a new incident, whether it was a fire, a re-ignition, people having barbecues.

"It feels just so relentless to see it up in flames so many times, so close together.

"It's terrifying, but it's so sad."

Forestry England is calling for more than 100 independent camping businesses to follow its lead and ban campfires, BBQs and firepits on their sites in the New Forest.

A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is already in place to ban the lighting of fires of any type including any outdoor cooking facilities and equipment, as well as placing, throwing or dropping items likely to cause a fire in the open.

While weekend events planned by the fire service in Ringwood and Romsey have been postponed due to the fire, the annual Minstead Village fete will be taking place on Saturday near Stoney Cross.

Its committee is raising money for the firefighter's charity and chairman Colin Bunday said any donation would help the cause.

"This year everybody's eyes are on the fire service for what they're doing, they're saving the villages around the area, so they are going to be recognised."