Ban Bromley Bonfires is a community led campaign calling on LB of Bromley to act urgently to stop bonfires, particularly in Smoke Control Area, to protect residents from bonfires toxic air during respiratory pandemic. 

We know that this pandemic is not going away soon.  We know that wood smoke air pollution impacts immune responses and aggravates health conditions. Residents with underlaying respiratory and cardio-vascular health problems are at greatest risk. But no one is immune to toxic emissions from bonfire smoke, which include carbon, dioxins, metals, and - most dangerous - high levels of PM2.5 particles which penetrate our heart and lungs, aggravate respiratory conditions and cause serious harm to health. 

Our community air quality monitoring shows that whilst air across London has cleared during lockdown, Bromley is the only London Borough where the levels of NO2 remained the same as before the pandemic, and PM2.5 particulate matter rose significantly. Our data shows direct link to bonfires.

This is particularly worrying as scientists detected Coronovirus on particles of air pollution enabling it to be carried over longer distances and increase the number of people infected.

Now that transport is back to near pre-lockdown levels, we need to take every possible step to ensure lowest levels of air pollution to help us all protect ourselves from this dangerous virus, and to keep the rate of deaths and infections as low as possible.  This will help save lives and help protect our mental and physical well being.

There are excellent recycling facilities in our Borough, now open, but unfortunately bonfires continue on daily basis. We can't rely on reporting of bonfires as more often than not we cannot see them, but we can and do breathe in toxic air that covers entire neighbourhoods, often from just one bonfire.

We need the Council to take urgent steps to stop bonfires to protect our health from this avoidable toxic air pollution.