A fire spread over a hectare (10,000 sq m) of undergrowth and grassland in Lower Kingswood yesterday.

Firefighters were called to Thistle Hill near Mogador and the M25 at about 6.20pm and worked there for a couple of hours.

A spokesman at Banstead fire station said the fire crews used three hose reels and also smothered parts of the fire using beaters.

He said: “One hectare of undergrowth and grassland was alight. Everything is tinder dry at the moment. We have had a number of fires around Surrey.”

He suggested that the fire could have been started by a lit cigarette and called on the public to be careful given the high fire risk.

This latest fire comes after a blaze spread over woodland and scrubland in Norbury Park just outside Leatherhead on Wednesday night.

Yesterday: Blaze spreads over woodland and scrubland near Leatherhead

There were also five suspected arson attacks on historic Ashtead Common on Sunday.

The largest fire that evening ravaged an acre of land and destroyed several trees, stag beetle larvae and grass snake eggs.

Since last Wednesday scores of firefighters have been fighting a huge fire which has destroyed swathes of heathland in Pirbright.