FIRE crews spent more than 30 hours tackling a wild fire in Aberystwyth over the weekend.

The fire in Parc Natur Penglais broke out at around 4.52pm on Friday, 9 June and led to the closure of Infirmary Road and some nearby residents to be evacuated from their homes.

Other residents were asked to keep windows and doors closed as fire engulfed the wooded area in north Aberystwyth, pouring a blanket of smoke across the town.

Ceredigion County Council opened a temporary rest centre for those displaced by the blaze, with residents being allowed back into their homes at around 9.15pm on Friday night, with the fire largely under control.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service issued a statement on Monday morning, saying: “At 4.52pm on Friday, 9 June, the Aberystwyth, Aberaeron, Llandrindod and Tregaron crews were called to an incident on Infirmary Road, Aberystwyth.

“A large amount of gorse was on fire within a woodland area, a number of nearby apartments were evacuated, with residents placed in emergency accommodation by the local authority.

“During the course of Friday, crews tackled the wildfire using hoses, knapsacks and beaters.

“Crews monitored the hillside and dampened down any areas of reignition. “Residents were allowed back into their properties and were advised to be vigilant overnight.

“Overnight, strong winds caused some hotspot areas to reignite.

“On Saturday morning, the Aberystwyth crew reattended and dampened down hotspots using hose reel jets.

“Crews continued to dampen down through Saturday night to Sunday morning, with crews finally leaving the scene at 12.47am on Sunday, 11 June.”

Ceredigion County Council praised the efforts of fire crews, saying: “We would like to express our thanks to the firefighters who responded to and dealt with the fire and to local authority staff who volunteered to man the temporary rest centre.”

The crew at Aberystwyth fire station also thanked the local community for their support.

Posting on Facebook, Aberystwyth Fire Station said: "Aberystwyth crews would like to thank all the members from our community who have kindly donated refreshments for our operational crews whilst dealing with this incident over the weekend. The kind gesture is greatly appreciated!"

See a timeline of events by clicking on our liveblog from Friday evening here