THE Welsh Government will hold a summit meeting with emergency services to work out a plan to deal with grass fires, said to have caused £800,000 of damage this year alone in South Wales.

The Minister for Public Services, Leighton Andrews AM, said people were "rightly angry" about the effect of grass fires on their communities.

During First Minister questions at the Senedd earlier today he said the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service was getting around 50 call-outs a day at the moment, and were being diverted from house fires and other emergencies.

He added that the warm, dry weather, as well as the school holidays, had led to a "spike" in grass fires this month.

William Graham AM (South Wales East) had asked Mr Andrews about the "alarming rate of deliberate grass fires".

He said the fires were both "wicked and senseless" and "put the emergency call centres under enormous pressure”. He added: “At this time of year a whole generation of ground nesting birds and young animals are lost in the affected areas.”

He also asked about sentencing for those found guilty of starting grass fires, urging Mr Andrews to push for strict penalties so prison becomes a “meaningful deterrent”.

Mr Andrews said prison sentences are available for grass fires started by arson but said there was certainly scope to look at the sentencing guidelines.

He told AMs: “I’ve asked my officials to consider the available research on why perpetrators undertake these crimes.”

Firefighters have already started arson reduction programmes in schools including projects aimed at young people on the cusp of offending.

South Wales East AM Lindsay Whittle said that crews were returning to their stations “absolutely exhausted” and asked whether local rangers, observers or volunteers could be called in during times when grass fires were most likely.

He said: “I understand the cost in South Wales alone so far is £800,000. Do you agree with me that more threats to close fire stations in the areas concerned are not helping?”

Leighton Andrews replied: “There’s no doubt fire fighters are under considerable pressure. I’m delighted members of the community have come forward to offer their support and I have discussed that with the chief of South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority.”

Blaenau Gwent AM Alun Davies said: “In my community there are people who are frightened in their homes and horrified by what they are seeing on the mountains. I very much support your calls to apprehend and punish the people responsible for creating these fires.”

He asked for reassurance that firefighters on duty for “hours and hours and days and days” can be relieved by others so they can recover from fighting “these needless fires”.

And Caerphilly AM Jeff Cuthbert said it was important people knew they should report arsonists and could do so anonymously “even if it implicates their own family members” .

Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies asked whether police would check Facebook and Twitter where criminals might be bragging about the fires they had started.

Mr Andrews replied: “It’s obviously important that intelligence is gathered not only from members of the public but from social media.”

He praised South Wales Fire and Rescue for keeping the public updated via Twitter.

“The First Minister and I will be holding a summit next week with fire and rescue services, the police, Natural Resources Wales and others to formulate a clear and coordinated plan of action for the short, medium and longterm,” he said.