A record year for wildfires was last night blamed on Labour's environmental policies.Some 1,017 infernos have ravaged England and Wales this year – already as many as there were in the whole of 2025, the previous worst year.With temperatures forecast to hit 38C today, campaigners say the Government has ignored warnings that its policies have turned swathes of countryside into tinderboxes.They say Labour's rewilding drive, which involves allowing nature to look after itself without human interference, has caused a huge build-up of dry vegetation primed to ignite in heatwaves. Gamekeepers and farmers traditionally carried out controlled burning of heather and grasses in the cooler months – encouraging new shoots on which grouse and sheep graze.Last year, Labour extended rules preventing the burning on 1.6million acres of land. It says the move, targeted at peatlands, would improve air quality and protect environmental and public health.Jonathan Roberts, of the Country Land and Business Association, said: 'Last year was the worst on record for wildfires, yet ministers responded by making it harder for land managers to carry out the controlled burning necessary to stop wildfires taking hold in the warmer months. Firefighters battling a wildfire at Dunwich Heath, near Leiston in Suffolk, on July 30. There is no suggestion this fire was as a result of rewilding Drivers were ordered to abandon their vehicles and walk down the side of the A31 when the fire took hold on Sunday afternoon. There is no suggestion this fire was as a result of rewilding