Calls for wood-burning stoves to come with health warnings

Wood stoves should be given health warnings, according to a report backed by 100 Conservative MPs.

The new stoves should carry labels highlighting the “negative medical consequences of outdoor air pollution” they produce, according to the report by Bright Blue, a center-right think tank.

The think tank also argued that councils should be able to ban the use of stoves on days when air pollution is particularly high through an amendment to the Clean Air Act, according to The Times.

It comes after ministers asked councils to impose £300 fines on people breaking the rules on the devices earlier this year.

Around 1.7 million homes in the UK have wood stoves, up from 500,000 in 2013.

Homeowners are more likely to be wealthy, the authors of Delivering Cleaner Air in a Socially Just Way said, adding that 42 percent owned their own home.

“Given that many of those who burn at home tend to be better off, it should be possible to reduce this source of pollution without harming those who are in a more precarious financial situation,” they wrote.