A HUGE gorse fire near Brynaman which took firefighters from Ammanford, Pontardawe and Abercrave three-and-a-half hours to bring under control on Sunday night may have been started deliberately, the South Wales Guardian has learnt.

Fire crews were called to the scene at 7.29pm following reports of flames in the vicinity of the Remploy factory.

The fire was said to have spread quickly.

At the height of the inferno firefighters were battling flames across a three or four-mile front.

A spokeswoman for the Mid and West Wales Fire Brigade said the cause of the blaze had not yet been established.

But they were looking at the possibility that it could have been the work of arsonists.

"Between April and December last year 1,436 grass fires in our area were started deliberately so obviously this is a significant resource issue," she added.