Firefighters tackle the blaze near Herne Common on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Phil Houghton.

Firefighters have been on the scene of a woodland fire for four days running.

At its height, around 36 firefighters were sent to New Road, Herne Common, near Wildwood Animal Park to tackle the three hectares of grass, undergrowth and trees that caught alight on Tuesday afternoon.

A total of six engines, two from Herne Bay, and one from Canterbury, Whitstable, Sturry and Faversham were called to help put out the flames at 2.30pm.

Since then, a total of 17 different watches have kept an eye on the blaze, including relief crews from Eastry, Aylesham and Westgate.

Graham Blake, from Herne Bay fire station's Green Watch admits progress has been slow.

He said: "We were called out to keep an eye on the scene again on Thursday night and we will be back there on Friday morning as a precaution.

"While not out of control and burning wildly, it's a difficult fire to tackle because of its location and the density of woodland. Our job is just to keep damping down and watching out for hot spots as a precaution."