Marks and Spencer has announced it is to stop selling disposable barbecues in all its stores across the UK. The company - which is following in the footsteps of Aldi and Waitrose - made the decision in a bid to help the environment.
The retailer said it wanted to "help protect open spaces and reduce the risk of fires" - amid a summer which has seen record-breaking temperatures and very dry conditions up and down the country. A spokesperson for M&S said: "We'd already stopped selling disposable barbecues near national parks and in London but given the unusually hot and dry conditions, we've taken the precautionary step of removing them from sale across the UK."
London Fire Brigade (LFB), which has been calling for a ban on disposable barbecues, described it as "good news". On Twitter, LFB added: "We want to work with retailers to stop the sale of disposable barbecues and reduce the risk of dangerous grass fires."
Sky News reports London's Fire Commissioner Andy Roe has written to local authorities asking for a temporary ban on the use of barbecues in all public parks and open spaces. The tinder-dry conditions across the UK have sparked a number of wildfires, some of which have destroyed homes and crops, and prompted calls for a ban on the disposable barbecues behind many of the blazes.
New figures reveal that in the week commencing July 18, LFB received 8,302 calls and attended 3,231 incidents, including more than 1,000 fires. Mr Roe said: "Despite our grass fire warnings, we've still seen some people behaving carelessly and recklessly.
"We need urgent action now to see a national ban on the sale of disposable barbecues. They can be bought for as little as £5 and can cause untold damage, especially when the grass is as dry as it has been over the last few weeks."
He said recent incidents were "another example of how we are increasingly being challenged by new extremes of weather as our climate changes". LFB is backing a petition on Parliament's website demanding a "complete ban on the sale and use" of disposable barbecues in the UK.
