Curtain-twitchers moan to councils about their neighbours burning wood once every 35 minutes.

Figures show 15,195 official complaints were made about smoke pollution created by wood-burning between August 2024 and September 2025.

Council bosses in Bolsover, Derbyshire – England's complaint hotspot – received 11 for every 10,000 residents. 

Among the complaints will be neighbours grumbling about fumes emitted from next-door's wood-burning stoves, a staple of middle-class homes.

It might also cover people burning wood piles in their own gardens, however. 

Campaign group Mums for Lungs obtained the data through Freedom of Information requests. 

Despite being bombarded with complaints, councils only issued 24 fines in the same window.

Wood burning is Britain's biggest source of PM2.5 emissions – fine invisible particles 30 times smaller than a human hair which are capable of getting into blood.

They have been linked with cardiovascular problems, strokes, respiratory conditions and cancer. 

Although newer wood-burning stoves are billed as eco-friendlier, they still pump out six times the mass of PM2.5 than a diesel HGV.

In the face of mounting health concerns, campaigners argue that the Government is allowing people to be 'left to choke in silence' due to a 'public health failure hiding in plain sight'.

Jemima Hartshorn, founder of Mums for Lungs, said the current system is 'set up to fail, not to protect people'.

She told the Daily Mail there is no way for councils to enforce strict rules in people's own homes.

Ms Hartshorn said: 'Families across the country are suffering from neighbours' burning, yet even after thousands of complaints, barely a handful of fines have been issued.'

Since 2021, households in 'smoke control areas' can only burn fuels in stoves which are designed to limit harmful emissions and approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The rules also state, under the Environment Act 2021, that £300 fines can be issued for smoke-emitting chimneys. Penalties of £1,000 can be handed to residents caught using unauthorised fuel in unapproved appliances. 

The Government advises: 'Your council has a responsibility to investigate complaints of smoke and fumes that could be a "statutory nuisance".

'They can issue an "abatement notice" if a neighbour’s bonfire is causing a nuisance. 

'Your neighbour can be fined if they do not follow the rules of the abatement notice.'

Failure to comply with an abatement notice can result in a fine of up to £5,000.

Some 9,724 of the complaints were made in smoke control areas, which are typically only found in cities. That was up 65% on the year before.

The councils that received the most complaints per 10,000 population were Bolsover (11.2), followed by Calderdale (9.8) and Wakefield (9.2).

At the other end of the scale, ten councils of the 248 included received no complaints at all.

Lily Hughes, a mother-of-two from Bath, said: 'Despite living in a so-called "smoke-free zone", the smoke that pours out of chimneys in our area continues to make its way into our house regularly throughout autumn and winter. 

'We cannot escape it, even if we try and block up gaps around doors and windows. Why should my children have to breathe this dangerous air?'  

Campaigners and health experts have called for tougher action.

Mums for Lungs wants a phasing-out of new stoves within the next few years and bans on non-essential burning by the 2030s. 

The pressure group is also asking for an end to classifying wood-burning stoves as 'DEFRA-exempt' or 'DEFRA-approved', as well as a public health campaign asking people not to burn.

The Royal College of Physicians said air pollution causes up to 36,000 premature deaths in the UK each year and costs the economy an estimated £27bn annually.

A local government association spokesperson said: 'Councils want to work with all partners to better raise awareness about the impacts of domestic burning. 

'It is important that people are given clear messaging about the health hazards to households and the neighbourhood.'

A Government spokesperson said: 'Air pollution is a public health issue. As set out in our NHS 10 Year Plan, we are committed to reducing emissions from domestic burning to protect public health and local communities.

'On wider air quality issues, we have provided £575million to support Local Authorities and we are working alongside them to cut emissions so that everyone's exposure to air pollution is reduced.'