A council has clarified its position after being accused of "ignoring" a potential fire hazard.

A spokesperson for Rutland County Council informed Tim Norton, who had raised concerns about a bush catching fire outside his business in Long Row, Oakham, that officers were investigating the case even though he hadn't received a reply.

Mr Norton said he first notified the council of flames within a bush outside his property in an email to the council's FixMyStreet reporting service on July 21, followed by a call and a follow up email sent a week later, yet still hadn't received an "acknowledgement" by Tuesday morning (July 28).

The council spokesperson said in an email to him: "Your email was not submitted as a complaint, it did not contain a request for information, nor did it request any updates. It was a notification of a potential issue.

"As such, the appropriate course of action was to ensure that the information was promptly passed to the service area responsible for investigating the matter, which is precisely what occurred."

The fires were lit by youths who had started using the hollowed out interior of the bush as a "den", according to Mr Norton. The Oakham resident said he was "not averse" to youths gathering "as there's nothing to do in Oakham", but he began to worry when they started lighting fires, and thought he should "let the council know" what was going on.

On Monday (July 27), another member of the public spotted flames within the bush and called the fire brigade, who arrived shortly thereafter and remained at the scene for 45 minutes.

However, whether or not Mr Norton received a response would have made no difference regarding the occurrence of subsequent fires, according to the council, and "any attempt to draw a connection" between the two would be "entirely misplaced".

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The spokesperson said: "The council had already referred the matter to the appropriate service area for investigation and an acknowledgement email to you would have had no influence whatsoever on the circumstances that later led to the attendance of the fire and rescue service."

Mr Norton told the LDRS that he would be happy to cut the bush down himself to neutralise the threat, but is choosing to follow formal rules as the bush is on council-owned land.

"Knowing the strange old world we live in nowadays, I'm more likely to be prosecuted for criminal damage by cutting down the bush than the kids would be burning the building down," he said.

"It'll be some precious tree or something."