Despite polite and firm requests to them to stop burning items such as foam-filled furniture, plastics, food waste (including bones, which stink when burned) and other such materials, yesterday evening the neighbours lit yet another fire (without prior warning), and yet again we had a house full of revolting smoke and fumes before we could close the doors and windows. Our laundry, which was out on the line, now needs to be washed and dried again (a job that I don’t relish at the best of times). It was a hot night and we could not have the windows open because of the smoke and the awful smell. It’s also worth pointing out that yesterday was wheelie-bin collection day - their full bin was emptied during the day, but there was still plenty of rubbish left over to burn later on. Maybe they have just too much rubbish and need a larger bin?

We have had to contend with three such fires in the last 3 weeks (all 3 have been on warm, still evenings when the smoke does not disperse) and my patience with these people is running out. There’s no way that we can sit out in our garden and enjoy ourselves when this happens. If last summer anything to go by, there will be an average of one fire per week between now and September. I regard this as completely unacceptable, and hope that the relevant authorities at the local Council can find the time to investigate this matter.

I don’t have a problem with anyone burning their garden rubbish, but this is different. I regard these fires as a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990, as there is ’smoke, fumes, or gases emitted from premises, so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance’. I fear for the health of my children when our house fills with acrid fumes as it did last night, and my wife’s asthma has been triggered again.

Evidence of the fires is there for all to see - large scorched patches in the overgrown garden, just past the abandoned white-goods, the dilapidated drainage system and the pile of broken glass.

Sometimes I wish that one of the fires next door would spread to their house, but, on second thoughts, seeing as our house and theirs are semi-detached, maybe that’s not such a good thing to have on the wish-list.

Quite how that family of three (all adults) manage to hang on to a 3-bedroom council house when there are more needy families of 2 adults and 2 or more kids being crammed into smaller properties is well beyond my comprehension.

Now I understand why the previous owners of our property bought it under the RTB scheme and then sold it to us at such a favourable price. They couldn’t stand the madness either.