POLICE are investigating the cause of a fire that flared up in fields in Cam this week.

Smoke could be seen from miles around as the wheat fields behind Larkrise were set ablaze on Monday afternoon.

Firefighters from Dursley and Stroud fire stations were called to the incident at around 3.53pm on August 4 after Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue received multiple calls.

In total ten firefighters were sent to the fields, which they found well alight on arrival.

The fire engines had to drive across the fields to reach the fire, with crews battling the blaze for an hour and a half with two hose reels and using beaters to quench the flames.

Larkrise resident Nancy Wright was cleaning her home when she heard crackling from outside.

“At first I thought it was water overflowing from the sink but when I went to check I couldn’t find anything,” said the 53-year-old former police officer.

“I went outside the front to check what was going on with another lady from a few doors down.

"Neither of us could see anything but the crackling was echoing around all the houses and then I saw smoke coming over from the field behind the house and saw that the field was on fire.”

A spokeswoman for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue said the incident had been forwarded to the police.

A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said the incident was reported to them at 4.40pm.

“We are unable to say it is arson at this time – we have deemed it to be an unknown cause,” he said.

“House to house inquiries have been completed. A witness has reported seeing children on the field earlier in the day.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 101, quoting incident 376 of August 4.