A leading councillor has called on the people of Bristol not to use disposable barbecues on the Downs - and is also urging shops in the area around the famous open space to stop selling them too.
Cllr Paula O’Rourke, a Clifton councillor who was Lord Mayor of Bristol last year, said the risk of a fire on the tinder-dry grass was too great, and people should leave them at home.
Barbecues are already banned in a number of Bristol’s parks and open spaces, including around Ladies Mile on the Downs, but people have been using them in a lot of the area there. Last year, disposable barbecues were responsible for a number of grass fires in parks across Bristol, including on the Downs, in Greville Smyth Park at Ashton Gate, at Stoke Park next to the M32, Hengrove Park and in Castle Park, during the record-breaking heatwave that took over Bristol in July and August.
