A fire - possibly started by a barbecue - has destroyed one of the hides at the Paxton Pits Nature Reserve.

Staff at the nature reserve say they have received reports of a group of people having a barbecue and swimming in the lakes on Friday evening (April 23).

The blaze destroyed the Kingfisher Hide.

A post on the reserve’s Facebook page, reads: “It is with sadness that we have to tell you that, last night, we lost the Kingfisher Hide to a fire.

The fire brigade attended the site at about 8:30pm and extinguished the fire but the hide could not be saved; luckily, no one was hurt.

“The ground is very dry at the minute and this should serve as a reminder that things can get out of hand very quickly, whether it be a cigarette butt or a barbecue, We are lucky to have only lost the hide and not the boardwalk and surrounding scrub too as the fire was spreading quickly when the fire engine arrived.

We will, of course, look to rebuild the hide as soon as social distancing rules allow us to.

Comments on the Facebook page suggest a fundraising campaign could be launched to replace the hide.

The Hunts Post has approached Cambridgeshire police for a comment.