FIRE chiefs are urging Gwent people to help their fight against arsonists, after youths were blamed for starting a major hill fire.

Two hectares of grass and gorse - the size of eight football pitches - was set alight on the mountainside above Thornhill, Cwmbran on Friday evening.

Firefighters from Cwmbran battled for two hours to control the huge blaze, which left much of the mountainside covered in large patches of scorched grass and smoking on Saturday morning.

Theresa Lewis, landlady of the nearby Bush Inn, said: "The fire service are back and forth all the time putting out small fires on the mountain that have been started deliberately."

But she added: "It's very unusual to see grass fires this time of year. I don't think we've ever seen a fire this big."

Last year, arsonists cost Gwent fire service more than £15 million - deliberately started forest and grass fires account for a third of that sum.

South Wales Fire Service arson investigation officer Mick Flanagan, said: "It has started again. After all we went through last year the problem of grassfires is back and it makes life unbearable for the Fire Service."

Last year Gwent firefighters were called to more than 1,000 mountainside and grass fires that had been started deliberately over the last Easter holiday.

One forest fire in Wattsville, which raged for more than two days, needed 100 firefighters to bring it under control.

"This fire was almost certainly deliberate and we absolutely condemn it.

"It costs the community huge amounts of money and endangers them as we have to redirect resources away from looking after accidental fires.

"We want people to say who they are and help stop them. And we're pleading with youths now, stop lighting grassfires - anyone we catch in the act will be handed over to the police without hesitation."