UK heatwave: Burnham considers ban on disposable barbecues to prevent wildfires – as it happened

Disposable barbecues could be banned to help prevent fires, the prime minister has said.

Speaking to reporters on a visit to Stevenage, Andy Burnham said a ban was something the government was “certainly going to consider”.

As reported earlier, the prime minister will chair an emergency Cobra meeting in response to the extreme heat.

double quotation markThere is obviously a significant problem of wildfires in the south. The New Forest fire is a great concern; we have seen them in northern areas, as well as Suffolk recently.

This is a message for the public as well because the wildfires I mentioned, many of them have been created by disposable barbecues.

I do believe we need to get the message out loud and clear. People should not be using those barbecues outside at this moment in time.

I don’t know yet what the remedy is, but I do want to leave the meeting today with a loud and clear message that we do want people to take the greatest possible care when they are out in the countryside, both in terms of cigarettes, but also those temporary barbecues that we know are causing risk of fires.”

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