Burning of hedge cuttings the cause of '˜acrid smoke' in Watermead

The Herald was contacted by a villager saying a fire had been burning on farmland behind Kestrel Way and Pintail Close for more than a week.

Depending on which way the wind was blowing, acrid smoke would then blow across the estate.

A spokesman for Watermead Parish Council said: “We received an enquiry from a resident about acrid smoke and when we investigated found that it was caused by a landowner cutting his hedge and disposing of the cuttings on a bonfire.”

In correspondence seen by this newspaper, Aylesbury Vale District Council told a resident who complained about it that if the farm had a permit for commercial burning there were no restrictions it could impose.