This was the heart-stopping scene as flames began engulfing back gardens and a house in North Watford in May.

Sid McFarlane looked on with horror from inside his home as a fire ripped through his garden, with the flames dangerously close to his house in Bradshaw Road.

More than 60 firefighters battled the blaze which began in a railway embankment, which runs behind Bradshaw Road, on May 30.

The fire then spread rapidly into the back gardens, burning down fences - Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue said as many as 12 properties were affected.

May was also the month when social distancing measures were introduced as the fight against coronavirus continued.

Hertfordshire County Council had been drawing up plans to alter town centres across the county, like widening pavements and closing roads to help people maintain two-metre distances.

Some of these changes were introduced for the bank holiday weekend in Watford, Borehamwood, Hertford and Bishop's Stortford.

The safety measures included closing roads off to traffic, removing parking or narrowing of roads to help pedestrians.

A man was found dead after police were called to reports of a car on its roof.

Police said the driver of a Ford Fiesta died after his vehicle was found in a field off the A414 between Smallford and London Colney.

The driver was named as 46-year-old Michael Clark from Smallford.