Hot on the heels of the Environmental Agency declaring an official drought across half of the country, a temporary ban on the sale of disposable barbecues has just been issued by the UK government. Retailers have been prohibited to sell single-use grills in a set of guidelines recently laid out by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade due to the significant risk they pose to the public and environment.
A potential ban on disposable barbecues was first discussed at an emergency Cobra meeting that was called due to this week’s record-breakingly high temperatures. The government has warned that the use of single-use barbecues has ‘been the cause of a number of serious wildfires across the country over the summer months’ and that they ‘cannot be considered a safe product in the context of the ongoing weather and environmental conditions’.
The recently published guidelines apply to all retailers and distributors of disposable barbecues and will be kept under review as the weather conditions change. Many local authorities had already called for a ban on these products due to the risk they pose, and many retailers and supermarkets had already voluntarily stopped selling them prior to the official ban.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham recently spoke to BBC Radio 5 about the temporary barbecue ban and explained that ‘all retailers will be receiving guidance today, asking them to withdraw them from sale’. He went on to explain that there had been 37 fires across England and Wales and over 200 wildfire incidents in Scotland this year, and that whilst not all of them were caused by disposable barbecues, it was ‘probable’ that some of them were.
Perhaps it’ll be best to stick to a picnic this weekend instead, hey?
You can read the full list of government guidelines here.
