Multiple fire crews from across South Wales were called out to Abergavenny on Tuesday evening (March 29) after a large fire broke out on the Sugar Loaf mountain.

After receiving reports of a grass fire near Forest Coal Pit, crews attending the scene in Abergavenny were faced with a “well-developed” grass fire covering an area of approximately 60 hectares.

Crews and specialist wildfire officers spent nearly eight hours tackling the blaze and trying to get it under control.

The fire was eventually brought under control just after 3am in the early hours of Wednesday morning (March 30), but in total an area covering 60 hectares of grassland was destroyed.

The incident comes just a week after emergency services were called out to Llangynidr Mountain, on the border between Powys and Blaenau Gwent, after the South Wales Fire and Rescue service received reports of a deliberately started grass fire.

Crews from Ebbw Vale and the Mid Wales Fire Service attended the scene on Wednesday March 23, where a significant fire thought to be four miles wide was discovered, and created a firebreak allowing the fire to burn out overnight.

Gwent Police have since confirmed in a statement that an arson investigation is underway, following the fire on Llangynidr Mountain.

A police spokesperson said: “Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information should call 101 or send us a direct message on social media, quoting log reference 2200096335.

“You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”

This week South Wales Fire and Rescue Service announced it had dealt with grass fires covering a total of 400 hectares of countryside in a single week across South Wales, and is urging anyone who sees a grass fire to call 999.