A piece of apparatus on a park that is currently being developed by Royal Park Road in the Hyde Park area of the city set on fire this afternoon (Monday) as well as tarmac around the wheel-like contraption.

Two residents who were sat on their porch next to the unfinished playground – which remains gated off to residents – said that they called the fire brigade at 1.15pm when the fire started.

One of them said: “It went up really fast. It looked like a fairground ride or a portal that aliens were going to come through.

"There was nobody on the park at the time so it must have been caused by the heat reflecting off the wheel.

"Maybe there was something flammable on the floor and boom its gone up.”

One of the women said that the fire brigade arrived within minutes and were able to enter the playground and put the blaze out quickly.

She said: "I wouldn’t want that on the play area now. It was scary how quick it set alight.”