A LARGE area of grass positioned along a seafront went up in flames prompting an emergency service response. 

Firefighters from the Essex Fire Service rushed to Marine Parade, Dovercourt, shortly before 8.50am yesterday.

Upon arrival, the crews were confronted with a raging grass fire measuring approximately 800 square metres.

After working to make the area safe, the firefighters managed to extinguish the flames shortly before 9.30am. 

Aidan Freeman, from Harwich, reported the fire just before he headed off to work. 

He said: “I saw lots of thick and white smoke pluming up from the cliff face - I smelt it before I saw it to be honest. 

“I couldn't see the flames themselves from where I was, but someone online said it was the grass that was alight.”

The latest fire in the area comes just one month after the historic Hanover Inn pub, in Church Street, Harwich, went up in flames. 

As a result of the fire, neighbouring cottages were destroyed, two families were left homeless and the future of the watering hole was thrown into doubt.

Due to the severity of damage inflicted on the buildings, the fire service’s investigation team was unable to definitively say what might have caused the blaze.