Wildfire phone alert was 'entirely appropriate', government says

The government has defended its decision to send an emergency phone alert warning of wildfires across England and Wales last week as "entirely appropriate".

Millions of mobile phones bleeped with a "severe alert" notification on Friday, stating there was a "very high risk of wildfires nationally".

The lack of advance warning for the alert was criticised by charities and domestic abuse survivors , who said there was little chance to protect those hiding secret phones.

The prime minister's official spokesperson said on Monday the first duty of government was to "keep people safe" and the alert had been sent "after a direct request from fire and rescue services on the front line".

They added that at the time of the alert there were 43 fires and 11 major incidents which "stretched resources to the very limit" and required military support.

Most people started to receive the alert from 19:00 BST on Friday, with a message cautioning against the use of disposable barbeques, naked flames or fireworks.

The notification was the biggest use yet of the emergency alert system and Prime Minister Andy Burnham urged the public to take it "seriously".

A Cabinet Office press release about the alert, posted to its website at about 18:45 on Friday, was missed by many in the media, which meant there was little warning to the public.