Some animal populations could take "decades" to recover from the devastating wildfires that have hit Suffolk this summer, an expert has said.

Wildfires have hit fields and areas of heathland across the county following temperatures of nearly 40C last week.

Steve Aylward, head of project development at Suffolk Wildlife Trust, said: "There are dozens and dozens of different species in any typical grassland or heathland habitat, and many of them will not be mobile enough to get out of the way of a fast-moving grassland fire.

"Reptiles are particularly vulnerable because their instinct in danger is usually to take cover, but of course, if there's an approaching fire, they are extremely vulnerable."

Mr Aylward named reptiles such as common lizards, slow worms and adders as at a "very high risk" from fires, as are some mammals like voles and field mice, as they may have young in small nests.

Other species that live on heathlands, such as insects like wasp spiders and tiger beetles and birds that nest in gorse are also at risk.

"It's really the whole spectrum of terrestrial animals that are at risk from wildfires," he said.

"Some habitats recover relatively quickly and will recolonize. If you take heathlands, for example, invertebrate communities can sometimes recover quite quickly, it could take decades for reptile communities to recover."

Mr Aylward said the only thing people could do to protect animals from wildfires was to prevent fires from starting and alert emergency services if people come across a fire.

He singled out barbecues and Chinese sky lanterns as things to avoid.

"At the best of times, they just litter the countryside but to be using them in the countryside now is reckless," he said.

But to help animals through the continuing hot weather Mr Aylward recommended leaving out water and possibly cat food in your garden.

He said: "Putting water out in gardens is critical, it is make or break for animals like hedgehogs at the moment.

"This is possibly the worst sort of set of conditions for hedgehogs. They're already under considerable pressure for all sorts of other reasons, so prolonged periods of drought like this make it especially difficult for them."