• THE anonymous letter writer who complained about a flue on the new-build beneath their home should check with the planning department at Camden Town Hall (Ban wood-burning stoves, February 8).

They’ve retrospective enforcement powers and this flue was either given planning permission or is a contravention.

There is a reason modern wood stoves are certified for use in smokeless zones such as Camden: their fireboxes have extra air inlets for secondary combustion, meaning their emissions are dramatically cleaner than old stoves or open hearths.

Now that the fire brigade fortunately have fewer domestic fires to deal with (people not smoking indoors) a good use for their skills would be to help enforce the smokeless zone rules.

They would save us all a lot of dirty air by getting people with open hearths to stop burning the wrong fuels, and they could check that where householders do have stoves, these are modern, compliant ones attached to relined flues.

MIKE WELLS
Laurier Road, NW5