As England experiences record-breaking temperatures and mounting pressure on waste and street cleansing services, these prolonged dry conditions are increasing the likelihood of outdoor fires linked to littered waste.
According to Keep Britain Tidy, fire services across England attended almost 27,000 wildfires and outdoor fires in 2025 – a record high driven by heatwaves and drought conditions.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has repeatedly highlighted discarded smoking-related litter and abandoned disposable barbecues as key causes of many of these incidents.
Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, commented: “With England experiencing hotter and drier summers than ever, we cannot afford to sit back and watch our country go up in smoke, literally, because of litter.
“Cigarette butts and disposable barbecues are proven to be the cause of wildfires and outdoor fires and we can do something about them.
“We welcome the government’s £97 million investment to help fire and rescue services tackle the ever-increasing number of wildfires and believe behaviour change measures could tackle the cause of many of these blazes; prevention is better than cure.”
Alongside this, the charity has renewed calls for a ban on disposable barbecues, warning that the products can reach temperatures of up to 290°C and can take as long as six hours to cool.
Financial burden of waste fires
The issue is adding to concerns around the growing financial and operational burden of managing hazardous litter streams, with councils already facing rising clean-up costs and increasing strain on street cleansing budgets.
Keep Britain Tidy said cigarette butts were identified in a number of major fire incidents last year, including a secondary blaze on Langdale Moor in North Yorkshire, started by a smoker who had stopped to watch an existing fire.
Cigarette litter has also been linked to repeated heathland fires in southern England.
The charity said the fire risk underlines the wider waste management challenge posed by smoking-related litter, which it estimates costs taxpayers £40 million each year to clear up.
New research published by Keep Britain Tidy found that 80% of people believe it is unfair for taxpayers to bear the cost of clearing smoking-related litter, while 70% expressed concern about councils’ ability to fund wider anti-littering measures.
The charity also said 83% of respondents support a scheme to work with local authorities to prevent and clean up cigarette waste.
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