Steven Gerrard and John Terry's homes at risk after wildfires break out nearby

A luxury Portuguese resort where former England stars John Terry and Steven Gerrard own homes was being evacuated today as a wildfire threatened millionaires’ homes.

Around 70 people were asked to leave their properties before midday as flames and thick smoke threatened upmarket villas in an area called Pinheiros Altos which is part of the well-known Quinta do Lago resort.

Early this afternoon, the evacuation was being extended to the entire east wing of the resort and several roads in the area had been closed.

The flames were just 500 metres from an £8.5 million Algarve mansion believed to belong to Roman Abramovich which became the focus of a Portuguese government investigation in May.

Portugal’s Foreign Minister Joao Gomes Cravinho confirmed at the time the government had ‘frozen’ the six-bed villa on the exclusive residential complex after receiving a bank alert about an attempt to sell it two weeks before Russia’s Ukraine invasion.

The blaze threatening Quinta do Lago started late last night near Algarve University and an area where a four-day international motorbike festival is due to start.

Nearly 250 firefighters are now tackling the flames on the ground and from the air.

The people cleared from their homes, said to include residents as well as holidaymakers, were initially taken to a shopping centre on the Quinta do Lago resort away from the area firefighters are focusing on.

Emergency response workers said the evacuations were taking place partly because of the proximity of the flames but mainly because of smoke.

Portugal declared a state of alarm on Monday because of the wildfires affecting the country.

Nearly 3,000 firefighters are currently battling 50 blazes in mainland Portugal.

Climatologist Carlos da Camara said earlier this week the risk of wildfires was the highest in the last 42 years.

A forest fire in June 2017 which broke out near the central Portuguese town of Pedrogao Grande killed 64 people and injured more than 250.

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