A POLICE officer has now identified five suspects after a fire ripped across a former city golf course, turning the beauty spot into a scorched wasteland.

PC Rowan Boyle confirmed that he has now identified five suspects in connection with the fire at the old Tolladine Golf Course on Monday.

MORE STORIES

Golf course fire - police attempting to identify three suspects

Old Tolladine Golf Course fire - the aftermath

He said: "I have now identified all five suspects and they will be interviewed in due course on a voluntary attendance basis as opposed to any arrests."

We have previously reported how a fire broke out at the golf course shortly before 8pm on Monday but was successfully contained by firefighters.

However, it took substantial manpower and all three fire of the city's fire engines to tackle the blaze.

The fire raged across 4,500 square metres of parched grassland, some residents fearing it could spread to their homes.

The fire in Worcester and the discovery of large amounts of litter dumped on Hartlebury Common after a major fire there last month has prompted fresh warnings from the fire service.

Following reports of a large quantity of discarded litter strewn across the common over the weekend, including cigarette ends and glassware, Hereford and Worcester Fire & Rescue Service is urgently reminding people to take extreme care as the heatwave continues.

Besides these items, volunteer litter pickers have reported collecting an enormous variety of abandoned refuse on the Common left since the recent fire - including discarded food packaging, empty tins, coffee cup and even footballs – with most of the glass being found on the blackened sections where fires have already taken place.

Much of this packaging and other waste material is combustible – with the potential to spark off more fires on terrain that remains tinder-dry.

This applies particularly to cigarette ends which may not be completely extinguished when discarded, and bottles and glasses which are known to concentrate sunshine onto vegetation and ignite fires 'with astonishing speed' said a service spokesperson.

Group commander Thom Morgan, of the HWFRS Protection department, said:

“It is highly unfortunate that litter continues to be dropped in large quantities despite the many reminders we’ve issued about the dangers this causes."