BURNHAM SAYS GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING BAN ON DISPOSABLE BARBECUES

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the government is considering a ban on disposable barbecues as wildfires continue across the United Kingdom amid record summer temperatures and drought conditions. Burnham stated during a visit to Stevenage that single-use grills had been behind a number of recent blazes and that people should not be using them "at this moment in time". He did not specify whether the government was considering restrictions on the sale of the devices or limitations on their use. The announcement came as Burnham chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on the government's response to record temperatures in recent months.

Nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales have been officially declared in drought. The Met Office has issued a rare amber extreme heat warning for Thursday, with temperatures predicted to peak in the mid-to-high 30s across the Midlands and south-east of England, and a high of 38°C possible. Disposable barbecues have been identified as the cause of multiple serious fires in recent months, including a fire at Cannock Chase in Sherbrook Valley, Staffordshire, in July that burned an area the size of a football field and damaged a special area of conservation home to protected wildlife including adders and nightjars. The devices remain hot for hours after use and can reach 450°C, continuing to burn underground and in bins where they are discarded.

Some retailers have already voluntarily stopped selling disposable barbecues, and a Labour MP wrote to large retailers last week requesting they cease sales for the remainder of the summer. A number of Liberal Democrat MPs have also backed restrictions, as has the National Farmers Union, which has called on local councils to issue public space protection orders restricting their use in public areas. Brighton & Hove and Fylde in Lancashire are among councils that have previously used such orders to ban single-use grills. Those who defy current orders can be fined up to £100, with that limit set to rise to £500 in future.