𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A Labour-run council has branded wood-burning stoves as “cosy killers” in an advertising campaign that was reported to the advertising watchdog.

Brighton and Hove City Council began the drive last December, where they warned people against using stoves or open fires in their homes, saying they caused air pollution.

Critics slammed officials at the Labour-run authority, and even the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) warned the council over a claim they chucked into the “cosy killer” campaign being run.

The ASA cautioned the authority that the claim “particle pollution contributes to 1 in 20 deaths of people over the age of 30” could only be included in the advert if it was “backed up by adequate evidence”.

Now just weeks away from Christmas, the authority has restarted the campaigner under the same controversial tagline, according to reporting in the Daily Mail.

It has added in the claim that “last winter, particle pollution in Brighton and Hove was 91% higher compared with the summer”.

It has been reported that the ASA confirmed they had seen additional complaints about this latest iteration of the campaign.

Around two-million homes across the country make use of wood burners, and advanced versions of the stoves that use combustion technology are sold as a more eco-friendly and safer alternative to open fires.

Some scientists have warned the stoves can impact indoor air quality, which can lead to potential health issues, due to the release of fine particulate matter, black carbon and more.

Critics, including the director of Hove Wood Burners, Andy Genovese, told the Telegraph: “In April I got the ASA to review their campaign; the ASA criticised them.

“The campaign was detrimental to the solid-fuel industry. They are not listening, I’ve now submitted a second complaint to the ASA last week. It is astonishing.

“In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the council seems to think it is appropriate to tell people not to use the cheapest form of heating that they have.”

Alistair McNair, a Conservative councillor, added: “The cosy killer campaign is obviously fearmongering – why use the word ‘killer’? And a Labour council trying to guilt-trip legal users of wood burners.”

Councillor Tim Rowkins, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for net zero and environmental services, said: “In 2024, we launched the largest real-time air quality monitoring network in the country so that we could build a more detailed picture of the causes of poor air quality across the city.

“The data shows very clearly that particle pollution levels almost doubled during the winter months, when we know many people use open fires and wood-burning stoves.

“Wood-burners in particular have soared in popularity in recent years, not as a primary heat source but as a luxury. Our campaign is highlighting the damaging impact particle pollution coming from wood burners and open fires is having on our heath.

“I’d urge residents with fireplaces and wood-burners to think about the risks to themselves and others before using them this winter.”