Smoke Control Areas

What is a Smoke Control Area?

Under the Clean Air Act 1992 (as amended) local authorities can designate Smoke Control Areas (SCAs) within their administrative area.

In a Smoke Control Area, legislation is in place to reduce the amount of smoke that is produced from wood burners and open fires, which is the main source of indoor air pollution and harmful particulate pollution in Oxford.

Smoke Control Areas aim to prevent people from burning high-polluting fuels, helping protect the public from microscopic particles which can get into lungs and cause serious health conditions.

Map of Smoke Control Areas in Oxford

Why does Oxford need to be a Smoke Control Area?

Burning wood and coal releases harmful particles into the air, which are dangerous to health. These tiny, invisible particles can affect every organ in the body and increase the risk of serious illnesses such as lung disease, heart disease, and even cancer. Children are especially vulnerable, as exposure can stunt lung growth and affect their development.

Smoke Control Areas help reduce this harmful pollution by managing the use of solid fuel appliances, such as wood stoves, which are a major source of these emissions.

What you can burn if you live inside a SCA

For residents

If you live inside a Smoke Control Area and use a wood burner, you will still be allowed to use it as long as your appliance is included on the list of exempt appliances on the Defra website for use within Smoke Control Areas. If you think that your wood burner is compliant, but it is not listed as an exempt appliance, then call Defra's helpline for confirmation.

If your appliance is not exempt, (or you use an open fire) you should use smokeless fuel (anthracite, semi-anthracite, gas, low volatile steam coal), or an authorised fuel listed on the Defra website.

Inside a SCA, you can still use outdoor barbecues, chimineas, garden fireplaces or pizza ovens, as long as these appliances do not release smoke through a chimney of a building - for example a summerhouse, otherwise they will only be able to burn authorised fuel or must be exempt. You are allowed garden bonfires in SCAs, as long as you follow the rules on bonfires described on our Bonfires page.

Moored vessels such as canal boats are also exempt from the Smoke Control Area rules, as there are separate regulations under the Environmental Protection Act (1990).

For businesses

If your business is located inside a Smoke Control Area, then you must follow the Smoke Control Area rules.

If you are a fuel manufacturer, importer or distributor selling fuel for domestic use in England, you need to follow rules which came into force in May 2021 to sell fuels legally.

More information on selling fuel in a Smoke Control Area is available on DEFRA’s website.

Burning wood in a Smoke Control Area

Never burn wet, treated, painted, or glued wood due to the excess smoke and toxicity it produces. If you want to use wood as a fuel within Oxford’s Smoke Control Area, your wood must be seasoned (with less than 20% moisture) and used with an exempt appliance.

Legislation that applies to those who live outside a Smoke Control Area

If you live outside a SCA, you are covered by the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990. Under this act, any smoke emitted from a domestic chimney can be deemed a statutory nuisance if it is prejudicial to health or causing a nuisance.

For the smoke to count as a statutory nuisance it must do one of the following:

unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises
injure health or be likely to injure health.