Fire crews from across Devon are continuing to battle a large gorse and forest fire on a steep hillside near Kingswear that has been raging since Saturday.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service confirmed at 4.15pm today that they had requested the assistance of a helicopter to fight the flames by dropping water on the fire.

Crews were first called to the incident on Saturday afternoon around 3.30pm after multiple reports of smoke which could be seen far and wide.

The incident commander requested a further two fire appliances attend later that afternoon, increasing the total number of appliances in attendance to six.

Crews from as far as Kingsbridge and Chagford were on scene before withdrawing as night set in, with one fire crew remaining with a watching brief to monitor the development and potential spread of the fire.  

A fire service spokesman said firefighting operations continued throughout the night, increasing pumps in attendance to four along with one water carrier and an incident support unit.

This afternoon crews on scene requested the assistance of a helicopter to assist with fighting the fire by dropping water on it.

More as we get it.