Vandals wreak havoc to vital forest habitat

He said there are regular incidents of fires being started deliberately in old tree stumps.

There is the risk, said Mr Bradbury, of a small fire spreading into the undergrowth and resulting in a major forest blaze.

The vandals probably do not realise that the old stumps they set fire to are a valuable part of the Savernake Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The rotten stumps are a vital part of the forest eco system. Species that live on dead wood saprophytes in foresters' jargon include fungi, lichen, mosses and ferns.

The decaying wood also becomes home to a range of insects and small mammals.

On Monday firefighters were called to the smouldering stump of a centuries old beech tree near the Postern Hill picnic site after the alarm was raised by walkers.

The pollarded tree had been dead for some years but the huge trunk was left standing as a home to wildlife, said Mr Bradbury.

Firefighters led by the Marlborough station commander David Ward had to pump hundreds of gallons of water to put out the smouldering tree.

They also used axes to hack away some of the bark and outer wood to get to the deep-seated embers that could have re-ignited.

Mr Bradbury said people should know better than to start any sort of fire within a forest, even if they thought it was only an old tree trunk.

"There is always the risk of the fire spreading because even after periods of heavy rain there is still dry wood lying about," he said.

"I should imagine it was the work of kids because we are always getting them up here setting fire to things."

The forester said Savernake is becoming increasingly recognised as one of the premier habitats for dead wood species.

He added: "These old trees are a vital part of the forest habitat and we want people to look at them in a new light and not just as old stumps."

In the Spring Mr Bradbury and colleagues plan to run a series workshops in Marlborough to explain about life in a forest.