No wood burner fines despite 450 complaints

There have been no fines handed out in Greater Manchester to people using wood burning stoves, despite more than 400 complaints in a year.

Health fears have been raised over log burners after researchers claim they cause more pollution than traffic.

Households in England face fines of up to £300 and even criminal records if they flout log burner rules.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) said it had sent warning letters and tried to educate people and would only issue fines as a last resort.

A campaign group discovered that there had been 451 complaints over stoves between September 2023 and August last year.

The group Mums for Lungs found under freedom of information laws that Manchester City Council had received 213 complaints but only seven guidance letters had been sent out.

The group said councils in Stockport and Salford had more than 50 complaints but they resulted in just one inspection.

Liz Godfrey, of the campaign group, said: "It just shows the government is not giving the council the powers to do anything about this growing problem."

Bury Council's leader Eamonn O'Brien, who is GMCA clean air lead, said: "Before we get to the point of issuing fines there are many, many steps before then to encourage people and notify them that they might be in breach of the local rules.

"We send letters to people but to go down a route of fining people and thinking that's a good sign, I actually think it would be a bad sign, a sign of failure."

The councillor said people should be aware that wood burning "carries some risks to yourself and your family and also the wider community around you".

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