FIRE fighters spent an hour battling a chimney fire near Bourton.

A crew from Stow community fire station was called just before 5.30pm yesterday to a house in Copse Hill Road, Lower Slaughter.

The crew used one hose reel to extinguish the fire and spent an hour at the scene.

Due to increased popularity of solid fuel heating, Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service attends a significant number of chimney fires every year.

For safety advice visit glosfire.gov.uk/ysafety_h_chimney.html to prevent this from happening in your home.