A SPATE of arson attacks across Thornbury kept firefighters busy over the weekend.

Crews were called to three fires in the town, all of which are believed to have been started deliberately.

The first incident was a rubbish fire in a wooded area in Avon Way, on Friday night.

The town's fire service were called out at 8.47pm and on arrival at the scene used one high pressure hose reel to put out the flames.

The following evening, Saturday, a crew were called to a bin fire in the skateboard park at the rear of Thornbury Leisure Centre, at 9.26pm.

It was put out using a backpack with a hose.

Then 35 minutes later, a crew attended an incident in Manor Walk, where a wooden structure which was well alight in a wooded area at Manor Walk.

They used backpacks with hoses and buckets of water to extinguish the blaze.

A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset Police said: "At this stage there is no evidence to link between the incidents."

Resident Roger Hall, who lives on Parkland Way, spotted the fire in Manor Walk and called 999 to alert the emergency services.

"There were thick plumes of black smoke, reaching 30 to 40 foot high," he said.

The following day, Mr Hall went to look for the site of the fire, and to check out the damage.

He found that the fire had taken place at Thornbury’s medieval fishponds.

Located in woodland, and now overgrown and derelict, the site consists of eight interconnected, but now empty, pools of varying size and depth. The ponds would have been used for breeding, raising and storing freshwater fish.

It is not known how old they are, but they could date back as far as the 12th century.

There Mr Hall found that a selection of building materials, including insulation fabric, pallets, paint, drainage piping and rope, had been used to create a camp.

"An area of about 15 to 20 feet across had been burnt, including a couple of trees," he said.

"It looks like some teenagers had been sitting around having a fire, and it got out of hand."

A spokeswoman for Avon Fire and Rescue said: "When we are called to deliberate fires, it ties up our crews, when they could be used elsewhere for more serious incidents."

"We know that as the weather improves more people will be spending more time outdoors

"If you do have a barbeque, please make sure that you cook with safety in mind."