ENVIRONMENTAL health officers in Purbeck have received a string of complaints about nuisance bonfires.

Despite hot weather and increased fire risks householders are continuing to light bonfires to the annoyance of some.

Corfe Castle has become a complaint 'hot spot' with council officers also logging more than 20 complaints from Lytchett Matravers in a month.

Roger Garwood, Purbeck council's environmental services manager, said: "The advice on bonfires from both the pollution viewpoint and to avoid creating a local nuisance is not to have them at all."

He added: "The smoke from these bonfires has been hanging around. That's meant that despite the heat, people have been having to close their doors and windows to avoid the smell of smoke getting into their homes, at a time when so many residents just want to keep cool and enjoy fresh air."

He added that contrary to popular myth, there is no rule which allows bonfires after 7pm - in fact the rule is that they "should not cause nuisance". And that during the summer months that is most of the time.

The council has the power to take formal legal action against people who do cause a nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Householders are urged to take garden rubbish to household waste sites at Westminster Road in Wareham and Panorama Road in Swanage. There are 'green' skips at both sites from which waste is recycled. Alternatively, composting is another way of dealing with it.

Mr Garwood said: "If there is absolutely no alternative to a bonfire then the material being burned should be dry, to avoid smoke and it should be kept short - and the timing should be carefully assessed to make sure it's at a time when it might cause the least nuisance."