IT’S nearly summer but a vineyard near Alresford has still had to take action to prevent frost killing its vines.

The vineyard at Grange Farm had to light around 1,200 ‘bougies’ to ward off the bitter cold at its two fields of vines near New Cheriton.

Vineyard director Augusta Raimes said: “We wouldn’t expect to be seeing temperatures below freezing this late into May, however our vineyard experienced May frosts over the past week and saw dips as low as -2. Not just on one night but three nights this past week.”

Many vineyards across the county and across England have been out during the night to frost fight.

The bougies were placed near the vines and lit as the temperatures dropped under the clear skies.

The bougies create air movement and raise the temperature, just enough to protect the young shoots, who have grown so far forward during the warm weather of the past few weeks.