FIREFIGHTERS battled for over four hours to tackle around 20 fires set on grassland near to the former ICI site.

And a 14-year-old male has been reported to the Children’s Panel in relation to alleged wilful fire raising.

On Sunday afternoon, officers were made aware of a fire near to the Hugh King Quarry, Kilwinning and were battling until almost 8pm to ensure that the fires were under control.

Almost 20 fire service personnel were dealing with the fires.

A spokeswoman for the Fire Service said: “The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted to a fire at grassland at the Hugh Kings Quarry in Kilwinning at 3.31pm on Sunday, 24 April.

“Fire crews were confronted upon arrival by large volumes of smoke caused by multiple fires.

“They immediately worked to extinguish those fires using beaters.

“At the height of the incident there were four fire engines in total and around 19 firefighters in attendance.

“The SFRS left the scene at 7.48pm after ensuring the area had been made safe.”

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “A 14-year-old male has been reported for alleged wilful fire raising. Investigations are continuing and enquiries are ongoing.”

But the next night, more than 200 metres of grassland fire had to be dealt with by firefighters as they tackled blazes in derelict land once again.

They were called out around 7pm to deal with six individual fires near to ICI, with police having to help direct traffic after the smoke made its way onto roads nearby.

The incidents came just over a month after a warning came from the fire service about time wasting, property damage and environmental pollution fires can have.

Speaking in March, Ayrshire Local Senior Officer, James Scott said: “We are now seeing drier weather and, as a result, our woodland and grasslands become more vulnerable to wilful fire raising as well as accidental fires.

“The big risk is that these can become wind-driven. That can present a challenge to our crews in having to deal with a fire that is spread over a considerable distance - which draws on a number of our resources over a sustained period of time.”

Regarding the second blazes, a Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “Police attended near to Ardeer Quarry to deal with traffic management issues caused by fires shortly before 7pm. There is nothing at this stage to suggest these were caused by wilful fire raising.”