THE number of deliberate grass fires in Gwent in the first week of April saw a shocking 860 per cent increase on those put out during the same period last year.

The figures were revealed as the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) said they had spent nearly £100,000 on attending the 48 blazes started across the region from April 1.

There were just two of them, in Caerphilly, in early April 2014, but there were no less 21 there last week, an increase of 950 per cent; and Blaenau Gwent’s figures increased from three to 12.

No fires were reported in Newport or Torfaen in the same period last year, but there were to seven and eight, respectively, last week. The two counties saw a 700 per cent and 800 per cent spike in the number of fires.

Firefighters were not called out in Monmouthshire to deal with any deliberate grass fires in the first weeks of April 2014 or April 2015.

A SWFRS spokeswoman said it costs the force about £2,000 to deal with each of the blazes.

Other statistics showed that the number of the fires started in Gwent last month in comparison to March 2014 fell by a fifth.

There were 96 deliberately set fires here in March 2014, but 77 last month.

Last year, nearly half of them were set in Blaenau Gwent, where there were 46. There were only 19 reported in the county last month.

And there were other drops in Monmouthshire, where there were two last year and none last month, and in Torfaen, where 11 in March 2014 dropped to eight in March 2015.

But there were increases in Caerphilly – which saw 37 deliberate fires last month in comparison to 30 in March 2014 – and Newport. There were seven last year and 13 in March 2015, an increase of 86 per cent.

Wildlife officer for the SWFRS, Nigel Williams, said: “Deliberate grass fires are dangerous and unpredictable, they can quickly spread out of control. Firefighters battle against them under arduous conditions, with fires spreading across difficult and sometimes inaccessible terrain. The Easter holiday period traditionally sees the number of deliberately set grass and mountain soar and results in South Wales’ fire crews being stretched to breaking point, which can impact on us responding to more serious fires or road traffic collisions in our area.”