Smoke Nuisance
Smoke Control Areas
A Smoke Control Area (SCA) is an area where people and businesses must not:
- emit smoke from a chimney.
- buy or sell unauthorised fuel for use in a SCA unless it's used in an 'exempt' appliance (appliances which are approved for use in smoke control areas)
For more information on the rules in SCAs, please visit Smoke Control Areas - do you know the rules? A practical guide (defra.gov.uk)
Where are smoke control areas?
To find out which areas of England are designated SCAs, please visit the smoke control area map.
There are a number of SCAs in Lincoln which effectively cover the whole city. These were declared between 1962 and 1989 under Clean Air legislation.
Information and Regulations
You can burn and emit smoke from a chimney within a SCA as long as you use authorised smokeless fuel. Or you can use solid fuel, such as wood, if you are using an exempt appliance.
Exempt approved appliances are stoves, boilers, cookers and fires which have been listed under the Clean Air Act 1993. These appliances are constructed to burn fuels without emitting excessive smoke. To ensure that you are not committing an offence you should only burn the designated fuels in these appliances.
If you do not use the correct smokeless fuel or an approved appliance, you will be committing an offence. If someone is burning the incorrect fuel or you are being affected by someone burning solid fuel, you can report an incident of anti-social behaviour online using the link below:
Installing a New Stove, Fire, Solid Fuel Burner or Boiler
Before installing a solid fuel stove or fire, you should check with the manufacturer or supplier to confirm that the appliance has approval from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for use within a SCA.
Your new appliance should be designed and located so that smoke and fumes are well dispersed. This is particularly important if you intend to emit smoke from a ground floor where the smoke may become a nuisance to your neighbours. We are getting an increasing number of complaints about this issue.
The installation of any solid fuel appliance should be undertaken by a HETAS-approved engineer or under building regulation approval directly from us.
To ensure that you are not committing an offence, you should only burn the designated fuels in these appliances.