Marks & Spencer stop sales of disposable barbecues in UK M&S stores to 'reduce risk of fires'

Marks & Spencer is to stop selling disposable barbecues in all of its UK stores to “protect open spaces and reduce the risk of fires”.

It comes after the UK experienced record-breaking extreme heat and exceptionally dry conditions.

Announcing the decision, the retailer tweeted: “We’d already stopped selling disposable barbecues near national parks and in London but given the unusually hot and dry conditions, we’ve taken the precautionary step of removing them from sale across the UK.”

In recent weeks, Scots have been urged to exercise caution after the wildfire risk in parts of the country was raised by officials.

At M&S we want to help protect open spaces and reduce the risk of fires. We’d already stopped selling disposable barbecues near national parks and in London but given the unusually hot and dry conditions, we’ve taken the precautionary step of removing them from sale across the UK
— M&S News (@MandSnews) August 3, 2022

Last month, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said that parts of east and north east Scotland had a “very high” risk of wildfires.

Across the UK, the tinder-dry conditions fuelled numerous wildfires, some of which have destroyed homes and crops, and prompted calls for a ban on the disposable barbecues behind many of the blazes.

In July, London’s fire commissioner Andy Roe had called for “urgent action” and a “national ban” on disposable barbecues.

He said: “We need urgent action now to see a national ban on the sale of disposable barbecues.

“They can be bought for as little as £5 and can cause untold damage, especially when the grass is as dry as it has been over the last few weeks.”

He added recent incidents were “another example of how we are increasingly being challenged by new extremes of weather as our climate changes”.