The fire brigade has urged people to be cautious when holding a barbecue this summer after discarded charcoal started a fire.

Three crews were called to Raleigh Park Road, North Hinksey, on Saturday afternoon after reports of a fence on fire.

They arrived to find a shed containing propane cylinders on fire at the side of a house. Discarded barbecue coals were later found in a bin next to the shed.

A brigade spokesman said: "This emphasises the need to ensure that barbecue coals are cold before disposing of them.

"It was extremely fortunate that no-one was injured. Had this occurred during sleeping hours the consequences could have been far more serious."

*Firefighters were also kept busy in the centre of Witney tackling four separate blazes, started deliberately, within half an hour.

Two involved rubbish bins being set alight - the first in Wesley Walk, and the second in Welch Way - on Sunday morning.

A van was also set on fire behind the Somerfield supermarket in Welch Way, and rubbish, wooden pallets and a cold storage unit were damaged in a fire behind Waitrose in the Woolgate shopping centre.