Bonfire Nuisance in Your Neighbourhood

Originally written by Jeff Durham, updated by the editorial team on 14th April 2026

Garden bonfires are legal on most domestic properties in the UK. No specific law prevents you from lighting one at any particular time or day, but this doesn't mean you can burn whatever you like without consequences.

If your council fails to respond to informal reports about a neighbour's bonfire nuisance, you may need to escalate the matter with our free Council Complaint Letter Builder.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets boundaries about statutory nuisance, and bonfires creating excessive smoke or unpleasant fumes can breach these rules. The Clean Air Act 1993 also restricts burning certain materials. Local councils can issue abatement notices if your bonfire causes a statutory nuisance, regardless of when you light it. Check your local regulations before lighting one.

Timing and positioning

You could legally light a bonfire at midnight, but doing so would be inconsiderate. Daylight hours work best, finishing at least an hour before dusk. Early morning works well if there's little wind and neighbours don't have washing out. Avoid times when people might be having barbecues or sitting outside.

Position your bonfire well away from your house, neighbours' properties, fences, hedges and overhanging trees. Fires can spread quickly to what looks like harmless greenery covering dry wood underneath.

Think about wind direction: smoke tends to drift downhill on sloping gardens. Have easy access to water through a hosepipe or filled buckets. Never leave a bonfire unattended.

Neighbour Rights Checker

Check your legal rights in any neighbour dispute. Takes 1 minute.

Try our Neighbour Rights Checker free, here on this site →

What you can burn

Garden waste like dry leaves, small branches and plant trimmings are suitable for bonfires. Wet or green material creates much more smoke and will annoy neighbours unnecessarily.

Never burn rubber, plastic, painted wood or anything treated with chemicals. These produce toxic fumes and thick black smoke, and burning them could breach environmental protection laws. Household waste doesn't belong on bonfires either: most councils provide garden waste collection services, and much of what people used to burn can be composted instead.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Dealing with neighbours

A quick conversation with immediate neighbours prevents many problems. Let them know when you're planning a bonfire so they can bring in washing, close windows, or postpone outdoor activities. Unexpected bonfires cause the most irritation, particularly when someone has just hung out washing.

Keep your bonfire small and add material gradually rather than creating one enormous pile. This gives better control and produces less smoke. Avoid windy days altogether.

If a neighbour's bonfire causes you problems, start with a polite conversation. Explain the specific issue: smoke coming into your house, washing on the line, or wanting to enjoy your garden. If talking doesn't work, contact your local council's environmental health department.

Keep records of when problems occur, including dates, times, weather conditions and effects. Photos or video help demonstrate the issue. Councils may require evidence of nuisance before taking action.

Alternatives to bonfires

Before lighting any bonfire, consider whether you need one. Council garden waste collections handle most organic material, and home composting deals with suitable kitchen and garden waste. Some councils run community composting schemes or have household waste recycling centres accepting garden waste.

Some areas have restrictions during dry spells or high pollution periods, so check current conditions. Good relationships with neighbours are worth preserving: a bit of consideration helps ensure your bonfire doesn't become a source of ongoing conflict.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Neighbour Rights Checker lets you check your legal rights in any neighbour dispute. Takes 1 minute. Try it now →

Showing 20 of 150 questions

Ask Problem Neighbours a Question

ProblemNeighbours Editor 17/05/2026 at 1:29 pm

@sweetpea This sounds serious and you shouldn't have to confront him yourself. Report the fly tipping and the unauthorised fence to your local council straight away, as it's their land he's using. Ring 101 to log the bonfires as a fire risk and antisocial behaviour, and if a fire looks like it could spread, call 999 there and then. Keep dated photos of everything, including the scorched trees, so there's a clear record building up.

sweetpea 09/06/2024 at 9:39 am

Have lots of trees back of house a neighbour has started fly tipping his rubbish at the back of his house, including washing machine etc now his lighting quite large fires on this ground which is council owned ground, his even built a fence extending his garden now there’s only us three houses here, some trees were scorched last week when he built bonfire, this week it’s looking a bigger bonfire
I’m concerned his going to cause a massive fire, and besides the trees our home would go up in flames, what can I do? Cant say anything he’s not very nice
The only other neighbour is frightened to upset him
But I’m really concerned now …

Peeonyourfire 12/09/2023 at 3:01 am

Got some mug a couple of doors over, burning stuff at 2:30am, just stuck me head out the window and enquired "who's the arsehole with the fire? Ya c**t!" Amazingly, he put the fire out and hid.

Andypigeon 06/09/2023 at 2:58 pm

I have a annoying neighbour who keeps lighting bon fire, I think he burns household waste

Jul 03/08/2023 at 1:36 pm

My neighbour is having bonfires everyday in his garden burning anything and everything he can from wood, to carpet, trees , building materials etc me and my partner are asthmatic and the smell is awful can’t open windows or doors ?? the neighbours are a unfriendly

Jo 03/06/2023 at 10:19 pm

The neighbours burn large fires on the grass out on the street. Right outside my garden fence. I've asked them not to but then the become threatening and hostile.

Sam 17/07/2022 at 2:57 pm

Next door to me are constantly doing bonfires during the day and my 3 year old suffers with asthma this than fills up my house with smoke if I have the windows open and if I don't the house gets to hot in this heat what are my options what am I able to do about this please

Noo 16/03/2022 at 1:25 am

It's our landlord. I'm getting very sick. Landlords are not people anymore. They are a corporation of investors with no phone number. You can turn in your rent to an employee. An employee is burning trailer trash in our trailer park. The dumpster is full no one comes and takes it away. A woman died they have not removed her trailer. They put the dumpster there like they were going to take her trailer apart but never did. The burning trash is making me sick. I can't breath.

I don't know what to do. No one listens to us.
liberty commons urbana illinois usa

Louis 10/03/2022 at 5:01 pm

The inconsiderate neighbors always cough when passed my unit, to spread virus. This inconsiderate neighbors live in blk 601 bedok reservoir rd and unit no 500 to 506 always walked passed at 8.55pm to 8.59pm. I hope NEA took severely actions against this inconsiderate neighbor.

Louis 10/03/2022 at 4:53 pm

siderate neighbor live in either 500 to 506 unit no

Dilek Demirhan 07/09/2021 at 2:22 pm

Neighbour is burning waste in his back yard and causing a hazard smoke and smell!

caz 14/08/2021 at 7:20 pm

next door but 1 to me is burning loads of household items. debris is landing in mine and next doors garden.smoke is horrendous. all windows are shut but i can hardly breathe. it says to go round to the house and speak to perpetrator but he`s a big, evil looking man as i have seen out of my window and as i am female and only 5ft there`s no way i`m going over.asusual in this country the scum get away with everything and law abiding citizens have to suffer

Richie 05/07/2021 at 7:55 am

My neighbour is constantly having fires in his garden nearly every night he is burning anything he can get his hands on carpet laminate flooring etc and the smoke is unbearable I can't have my doors or windows open on a night time as the smoke comes in my house and my 2 children can't play in the garden or have there bedroom windows open on a hot summer night how do I stop him doing this

Izzy 12/04/2021 at 3:06 pm

Neighbour burning fires during day in garden thick smoke going everywhere they also have young children playing in the garden can I complain

Texan 11/04/2021 at 1:07 am

Moved back to Orange, Texas last year of beginning of February 2020 Neighbor been burning trash in burn barrel. Wife called fire department and they said they only put out real fires. And the neighbors told the fire department they were cooking on a cooking barrel. There was so much smoke that came into the house my wife couldn't breath. Our animals were having a hard time breathing as well. Fire department didn't give any medical attention to my wife knowing she was having a hard time breathing. They didn't do anything to put out fire. Called Texas department of air equality but they say there isn't a case. Problem is they burn on weekends and holidays so no one can come out until like 7 days to 2 wdeks later. So they don't see anything. Code enforcement is the same thing. They don't work weekends and don't see anything persinally. We have cameras and we have evidence of them burning among other things but everyone has the excuse that they have to catch them in the act and knowing that they burn on the weekends and holidays. I feel like my arms are tied, knowing there is a burn ban here in Texas. The nuisance that they keep on doing. Non stop!!!

Lor64 06/04/2021 at 12:50 pm

My neibour regularly burns garden waste during the day especially at the weekend when I would like to enjoy or eat with my family in the garden but I can’t because of the smoke and smell he creates. I have chronic asthma and a heart condition so this affects my breathing and makes me so unwell. I can’t even open my windows or trust putting out my washing. This is making me so unhappy and I feel like a prisoner in my own home.
Who do I report this to?
Any help would be appreciated.
Many thanks

Tika 28/01/2021 at 9:45 pm

How can I stop my neighbour burning things he shouldn't? Tonight it's raining and from about 7 pm he started burning a room full of laminate flooring, carpet and underlay. It's 9.45 and the fire is still raging. The fumes are entering my house even though all the air vents are closed. It's given me headache!

JuanKingspasm 20/11/2020 at 4:28 pm

@Annoyed Neighbour - 2-Aug-20 @ 12:04 AM
So would you say that I was being a selfish prick just because I burn a few old tyres occasionally, just to get the bonfire going nicely ?

Damaris 08/11/2020 at 5:04 pm

I would just like to know who you call on a Sunday when your neighbor crosses the street is burning and it's a dry windy day, you cannot sit on your porch you cannot take your dog outside because it makes you sick and you can't breathe! You certainly can't open your windows! So who do you call on a Sunday morning when The neighbor crossed the street is burning to be all get out on a dry and windy day and we have not had rain and over a week and don't expect to have rain for another week?

pat 29/10/2020 at 2:21 pm

Got a pile of garden waste (only twigs/branches as all else goes in the compost or the garden waste bags for Lambeth) built up over a year, and want to burn it on Bonfire night (or nearest sat or sun)......can't find out if Lambeth now allows this.....I also have an incinerator, so it could go in there.... Tried to find a Lambeth number to ring or write, but can't find! help!

Show All 150 Questions

Ask Problem Neighbours a question

Ask our editorial team a question and we will reply with our advice. Tell us as much about your situation as you can: the more detail you give, the more useful our answer can be.

You do not need to use your real name. Please do not include your full address, phone number, email address, or the names of other people. We may edit or remove identifying details for privacy and legal reasons.

Comments are moderated before publication.