A FIRE chief has warned Bradford residents not to start garden fires of unwanted household items after a spate of callouts during lockdown.

David Burke, crew commander from Odsal Fire Station, says his crews received five calls in just a few hours overnight last night about garden fires and it has been a regular occurrence over the last few weeks.

He says due to social distancing measures, fire crews are only concentrating on fires and not household inspections, adding the increase in garden fires is stretching their resources.

He says residents are burning off items including kitchen units, beds, fence panels and household waste in their back gardens while they are stuck at home.

Mr Burke urged residents to hire skips or store up items and dispose of them at their nearest tip, when they open fully.

He said: “We are being called out to so many garden fires at the moment.

“We are asking people not to do that.

“We had five overnight from midnight last night. It’s Bradford/brigade wide.

“You are only meant to burn garden waste at home, but you can even take that to the tip.

“Fairweather Green station is having an issue with it, in particular, too at the moment.

“If they start a garden fire we will come and put it out, but they will be left with a huge pile of stuff in their garden afterwards.

“It seems to be happening with people having spring cleans and renovations at their homes during lockdown.”

This echoes West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service who sent the following warning on social media last month: "Please do not have garden fires during the lockdown.

"Earlier this week firefighters tackled a fire in the open.

“Somebody had set fire to papers at the edge of their garden which then spread.

"Garden fires can easily get out of control, put people at risk & take up valuable fire service time.

"Not only that, but the smoke increases air pollution & can make it hard for people to breath."