Pictures show devastation after fire rips through Saddleworth moorland and scorches area bigger than two football pitches

One of the region's most popular beauty spots was left blackened and scorched in a huge fire on Saturday evening. What are typically scenes of rolling green hills complimented with trees and other vegetation were left tarnished by a fire which took crews hours to dampen.

Pictures taken by the Manchester Evening News show the sheer scenes of devastation after the fire ripped through the Saddleworth moorland on Saturday evening and burned an area bigger than two football pitches. The flames ripped through the Dove Stone Reservoir area and completely destroyed new woodland which was planted by local volunteers just last year.

Fire crews were called out to the scene of the fire, around the nearby Binn Green area of the moorland, and were in attendance for a number of hours tackling the flames. This is the latest in a number of fires on Saddleworth Moor, with crews regularly called out to extinguish wildfires, often started by people using barbecues.

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On Sunday, the Manchester Evening News returned to Dove Stone to visit the area that was hit by the fire. See pictures taken from the scene in our gallery:

Pictures show burned trees with blackened bases and a dry ground which had been left completely charcoaled by the blaze. The area that was set alight is thought to be around a hectare in size - the equivalent of around two football pitches.

Site manager for the Oldham beauty spot, Kate Hanley, said the fire on Saturday evening (19 March) burned around two and a half football pitches worth of land. Police are said to have launched an investigation to determine the cause of the fire, but Ms Hanley issued a renewed plea to the public not