Almost ALL of Dorset’s supermarkets have announced they’re shelving the sale of disposable barbecues.

The announcements follow a flurry of major fires across the county and with the fire service warning that more blazes should be expected in the coming weeks.

A number of residents and visitors to Bridport have voiced their concern around the sale of the items in recent weeks.

Chris Lousley, from Netherbury, said: "It is not a question of preventing barbecues during good weather, but there is a place for them where they can be properly supervised, and closed down safely, not in the countryside where accidentally or negligently they can easily get out of hand."

Morrisons became the latest supermarket to announce they’d no longer be selling disposable BBQs with a spokesperson for the store saying the decision was based on ‘wildfire risks as the dry weather continues’.

Litter Free Dorset has “re-doubled” their campaign to halt the sale of the popular summer product saying they posed an unquestionable risk to Dorset’s wildlife.

Speaking after a number of open-air fires in the county, a spokesperson for Litter Free Dorset said: "This July was the driest in 87 years (and) we are asking all businesses that are still selling disposable BBQs to remove them from sale and for visitors, holidaymakers, and residents across Dorset to stop using them altogether.

"We are calling on all retailers to do the right thing for Dorset and stop selling disposable BBQs, to protect Dorset’s heathland and open spaces this summer.

"Not only do they cause a serious fire risk - which has only increased with the hot dry weather we are currently experiencing – but they are unsustainable, contribute to deforestation, and over a million purchased in the UK every year will end up in landfill or incineration.”

Now, with Morrisons and Sainsburys joining Waitrose, Aldi, M&S, Tesco and Southern Co-op, almost all supermarkets in Dorset have stopped stocking the barbecues.

It comes at a time where a red fire severity alert– the highest level possible – has been issued for all of Dorset for the coming days as extreme hot weather is expected to hit the area.

Residents and visitors are being asked not to have barbecues or bonfires during the current prolonged dry weather.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has attended 180 fires in the open in the first 10 days of August. This is a 429 per cent increase on the same period last year.