Benone Strand fire under control

Image source, Desmond Kelly

Image caption, Seven fire engines were at the scene

A fire which broke out on the popular Benone Strand near Limavady has been brought under control.

Firefighters were called to the County Londonderry beach at 12:38 BST. Seven fire engines attended.

Smoke billowing from the sand dunes covered the beach and cars had to pull over due to lack of visibility.

Plumes travelled as far as Magilligan and Myroe, about five miles (8km) away. The award-winning beach has seven miles (11km) of sand.

Image caption, After the fire - the damaged grass in Benone
Image caption, The aftermath of the fire

The fire engines came from different stations across the north west including Coleraine, Dungiven and Ballymoney.