Holy smokes! How can we stop our neighbours burning their rubbish every weekend?

Question: We live in a terrace house and the neighbours on one side, who moved in a few months ago, keep having bonfires. We appreciate they are refurbishing their house and have rubbish to dispose of — but it’s every weekend. They usually light a bonfire late on Saturday afternoon and it burns all evening, then they often relight it next morning. We can’t use our garden when their bonfire is going because of the smelly smoke. Can we make them stop?

Answer: Your neighbours can burn certain domestic and garden waste but should not burn any plastic, rubber or painted materials, the fumes from which could cause pollution or harm human health.

However, the frequency with which your neighbours have bonfires could amount to a nuisance if it prevents you enjoying your garden each weekend.

Explain to them the issues that their bonfires are causing and ask them to stop.

Suggest they dispose of their rubbish at your local waste disposal site instead.

If they continue with the bonfires you could apply to the County Court for an injunction to prevent them lighting bonfires and for damages. You may have legal expenses insurance to help cover the costs of such an application.

Finally, the regularity of the bonfires could amount to a statutory nuisance.

Report the situation to your Environmental Health Department who can make an assessment. If they consider there to be a statutory nuisance they can take enforcement action by serving an abatement notice requiring the bonfires to be stopped or limited.

If your neighbours ignore the notice they risk criminal proceedings and a fine.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.