Travellers have been condemned after lighting fires at Mousehold Heath just two weeks after it was devastated by a blaze.
Senior councillors have hit out at the unauthorised group, who pitched on the heath earlier this week and left the site covered in rubbish and food waste.
There were also remnants of fires on the field off Mousehold Lane just 100 metres from where the blaze ripped through the heath last month.
The fire left part of the landscape blackened and scarred, with crews describing it as "the worst fire in decades".
Mike Conroy, Reform councillor for Catton Grove, said: "It's not acceptable. We've been told not to have barbeques and open fires, so why do they think it's acceptable to ignore that?
"To be clear, I would condemn anybody doing it after they were told not to. They should have known the risk."
His criticism is reinforced by Tim Day, Reform councillor for Crome, who also condemned "anything that puts public safety at risk".
Mr Day said: "We have a duty of care to our residents as elected representatives."
He added: "The taxpayer will foot the bill again for the clean-up, no doubt. It's unbelievable."
Fire services called in
People in the area reported a fire in the open on Monday evening, which an appliance from Sprowston attended shortly before 8pm.
The incident was logged as a "false alarm" and the stop message was received at 7:58pm.
One dog-walker, Gerard Roadley-Battin, who regularly visits the heath, said he saw a fire engine near the heath on Mousehold Lane on Monday evening.
He said: "There were a few fire officers. I came up the next morning and it was absolutely swamped here with caravans and tents, but the council have done a good job on cleaning this up.
"A lot of dog-walkers were scared to come up here so it's good to see that it's all back to normal."
Bags of rubbish cleared
Work has been under way to clear the rubbish left by the travellers who have since moved on from Mousehold Heath.
Norwich City Council refuse vehicles were seen on Mousehold Lane early on Wednesday morning after bags of rubbish had been collected and blow-up mattresses had been discarded.
The encampment is believed to have arrived on the heath after leaving a park in Sprowston.
'It's gutting'
Neighbours living on Wilks Drive Farm also criticised the group, who ripped through a fence to get into the park on Sunday.
Bill Couzens, chairman of Sprowston Town Council, said: "When I revisited Monday evening, the council had made a really good job of replacing the fence posts with new ones and had repositioned the dog waste bin that was attached to one of the posts the travellers had removed.
"The town council have spent a lot of time and money trying to make all our open areas traveller-proof after they set up camp two weeks before last summer's fete."
One neighbour who did not want to be named said: "They yanked the fence at the end. My wife went and stood in front of them while on the phone to the police to try to stop them.
"They left quite a mess. It's gutting. Everyone feared for their property because of how close they were but we are pleased they've now gone.
"Also credit to the Sprowston Town Council for how quickly they cleared the mess and fixed the fence."
It is believed the group then travelled to Earlham Park, where they pitched overnight on Tuesday.
A dog walker who did not wish to be named said: "The mess is awful already.
"They are driving vehicles around where people and dogs are enjoying walking."
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