English councils have issued just three fines under tighter wood burner rules

Wood burning has overtaken traffic in the UK as one of the most harmful sources of particulate matter called PM2.5. Photograph: Kathy deWitt/Alamy

There has been just one prosecution and three fines handed out for people using banned wood-burning stoves in England, data has revealed.

Despite more than 10,000 complaints about wood being burned in populated areas since January 2022, local councils have not been enforcing the government’s “tough new restrictions” on stoves. Two-thirds of these complaints were not followed up, and only a handful led to any action.