Two Italian students accused of starting a wildfire that damaged a vast area of forest have been fined an astounding €27 million (£23.4m) by the country’s forestry service.

The young men lit a barbecue in a garden near Lake Como in the north of Italy on December 30 to celebrate the approach of the New Year.

But sparks from the barbecue allegedly started a fire which quickly spread, thanks to high winds and unusually dry conditions, eventually burning more than 1,000 hectares of forest, damaging several properties and killing domestic animals, including horses, near the village of Sorico.

Alessio Molteni, 22, and Daniele Borghi, 22, said they were “deeply sorry” about the fire caused by their barbecue.

“As soon as the fire broke out we called the fire service and we threw ourselves at the flames to try to put them out,” said Mr Molteni.

They said they had been made "scapegoats", claiming that the wider forest fire was sparked not by their barbecue but by some other source.