Anyone caught lighting a disposable barbecue in certain public areas could be fined up to £100, or more if it goes to court, as concern over wildfire risk grows amid the ongoing drought.
The Government announced on Friday that it was temporarily banning the sale of disposable barbecues, blaming the single-use grills for a string of wildfires over the summer.
This ban does not cover the use of such products, meaning it could still be legal to light one if it was bought before the ban came into effect.
However, many Britons could still face a fine if they use a disposable barbecue, as many local authorities ban their use.
The i Paper understands that the Government is keeping all options under review, suggesting it could implement further measures to crack down on the use of disposable barbecues if problems persist.
The sales ban takes the form of statutory guidelines issued by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
It states that a disposable barbecue “cannot be considered a safe product” in current conditions and “must not be made available for sale either in store or online”. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds called the move “common-sense steps to protect lives and the environment”.
Shortly after the announcement, an emergency alert was sent to millions of phones warning of a “very high risk of wildfires nationally” across England and Wales, telling people not to light disposable barbecues, firepits, garden incinerators or fireworks.
What has Burnham said?
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there were “37 fires across England and Wales right now, four of them are major incidents”, adding that while he could not attribute all of them to disposable barbecues, “it’s probable that some of them have been caused in that way”.
He urged people to avoid open fires altogether, saying: “Britain is a tinderbox right now. Setting a fire in any outdoor setting of any kind is a risk to other people’s homes, it’s a risk to other people’s lives, don’t do it, please don’t do it.”
An aerial view shows burnt houses after a wildfire spread in Stourbridge (Photo: Ryan Jenkinson/Getty Images)Bans on the use of disposable barbecues, rather than the sale, come from Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) – a power councils have to prohibit fires and barbecues in specific parks, beaches and stretches of open countryside.
Breaching a PSPO is a criminal offence, carrying an on-the-spot fine of up to £100, rising to £1,000 if the case goes to a magistrates’ court.
Coverage depends heavily on where in the country someone is. Councils including Brighton and Hove and Canterbury have used PSPOs to ban barbecues on beaches, while most London boroughs restrict their use in parks.
New Forest District Council also bans any open fire across the national park.
That £100 fine could rise later this year. The Crime and Policing Act 2026 gives councils new powers to increase the maximum PSPO fine to £500.
The Act received royal assent in April, but this provision has not yet been implemented, giving councils time to prepare before it takes effect, likely later this year.
That could mean that during future droughts, Britons caught lighting a disposable barbecue in a banned area face a fine five times higher than the current £100 penalty.
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