Wood you believe it? Just four fines are issued by councils for illegal burning - despite 100 complaints being made a week
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Complaints to councils over smoke pollution coming from wood burners have rocketed in the past 12 months – but no one has been prosecuted. Trendy open fires have been making a comeback in recent years –with around 10 per cent of households burning wood.
![[Despite more than 100 complaints every week, there have been just four fines of around £300 issued by local councils]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/18/23/93296739-14207907-image-a-40_1734565926839.jpg)
But research by parents’ campaign group Mums for Lungs has found that complaints have hit 5,608 a year to local councils who responded to freedom of information requests. But despite more than 100 complaints every week, there have been just four fines of around £300.
![[The only source of PM2.5 emissions that has increased since 2003 is domestic combustion, according to a recent Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) report]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/00/92865309-14207907-The_only_source_of_PM2_5_emissions_that_has_increased_since_2003-a-35_1734568544173.jpg)
Smoke pollution from burning wood has been linked to increasing the risk of cancer and respiratory diseases. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has called for wood burning to be phased out to reduce the rate of asthma in children. Jemima Hartshorn, of Mums for Lungs, said: ‘If you open your door on a cold night in any town, city or village you can smell the wood pollution.
'You wouldn’t want a truck pumping air pollution into your front room, but ironically even modern wood stoves cause six times the fine particle pollution of an HGV. Trendy open fires have been making a comeback in recent years –with around 10 per cent of households burning wood.
Despite more than 100 complaints every week, there have been just four fines of around £300 issued by local councils. ‘We’ve known about the health impacts of wood burning for decades. We need to make sure councils are given the tools and resources to protect children from toxic pollution and not just talk about the risks.
