A SPATE of fires has left caravans destroyed and allotments damaged.

At 7.07pm on Sunday, fire crews were called to council allotments near East Bay in Colchester after an unattended bonfire led to flames spreading to bushes and a nearby tree.

A fence, which was only metres away from an electricity substation, was also singed.

Essex County Fire and Rescue service confirmed it had put out the fire by 7.35pm, but less than an hour later fire crews were called to another incident fewer than two miles away at Distillery Lane, where a fire had started on a caravan site.

The fire brigade was called at 8pm to the caravan site which is between Distillery Lane and Haven Road.

There, one caravan was razed to the ground and another damaged beyond repair as crews battled to stop the fire from spreading.

The blaze was not extinguished for more than an hour with crews putting the fire out at 9.15pm.

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The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

On Monday morning, the emergency services were called to action shortly before 9am after a van caught fire on the A120 near the Ardleigh to Clacton interchange.

A witness who passed the fire explained the driver had got out of the van as the flames burned underneath.

They said: “They had stopped in a layby and there were flames coming from underheat the van – I can only assume it was the van driver who had some sort of towel trying to put out the flames.

“There was quite a lot of smoke coming out of the vehicle – I think it had just happened as I went past.

“The way the wind was blowing, the smoke would have come across both lanes of the carriageway.”

The witness added fire engines rushed to the scene via Ipswich Road a short time later.

Crews confirmed the fire had safely put out within 25 minutes, with the cause of the fire being recorded as accidental.