Calling the council about my neighbour's Fire

[Snowfire]

i have an elderly couple that live next door to me. They have always been friendly and we do get on well but lately the man is driving me to distraction!
He has a fire in his shed, I haven't seen the actual fire but the chimney is a length of steel liner that sticks out from the roof so I doubt it was professionally installed. Every morning he lights it, no matter what the weather. I'm not sure what he burns but quite often the smoke is black and acrid. The shed is against my boundary so whenever it is going, the smoke is blowing into my garden. This means I can't go in my garden as much as I would like to and I can rarely put washing on the line.
I have asked him nicely on several occasions to stop lighting it and sometimes it will stop for a few days but then it starts again.
Would the council be able to do anything or do I just have to put up with it?

I don't know what regulations are enforceable here but that sounds like anti-social behaviour to me so if all else fails he could be given an asbo. Yanbu to complain.

The Environmental Health Officers may be the way to go. You can't just burn any old crap and send God knows what toxic emissions to the atmosphere. You may live in a smoke control area with strict rules about that. Check the council website.

Also I don't think you can just plonk a stove in a shed and he may be breaching building regs around fire safety ie not having a proper hearth, proper flue etc.

Definitely call had Council for advice. Black, acrid smoke means he is burning nasty stuff (plastic, painted wood, other waste for example) which is probably in breach of regs. You shouldn't have to breathe that in.

I've just checked and my Council have an online form for reporting air pollution. Yours might too. They should take this stuff seriously and you don't have to put up with it.

Phone your Environmental Health Officer to report it.

I did this and received a 2 week log to fill out. They also wrote to the neighbours to inform them a complaint had been made.

I would call the council for advice. There have been fatalities in recent years from people burning old garden wood that was treated with chemicals - when it burns it releases the chemicals. If burning in an enclosed space this can be fatal.

Thanks for the advice, I have just e-mailed the environmental health dept so I should hear back tomorrow.
The trouble is, they are a really sweet couple and I don't want there to be any animosity between us but this has been going on all summer

They don't have to tell them who has complained and I'm sure you can't be the only person bothered by this , unless you are really remote .