A MUM says 'all-day' bonfires near her home are forcing her asthmatic husband to avoid their garden during the coronavirus lockdown.

Sharon Boalch, of Brickfields Road in Worcester, said people have been lighting bonfires every day for the past four weeks “from morning to night” on land at the back of her garden and that “one day the upstairs of my house was so smoky I thought we had a house fire.”

She said that when she asked the group to stop the fire, she was threatened.

The 50-year-old said she is worried about her husband, Ian, who has had a dry cough due to the burning. Mr Boalch suffers with asthma and has a poor immune system due to him having irritable bowel syndrome.

Mrs Boalch said: “It’s worrying him as he is asthmatic and because of his illness he has a lower immune system. I am concerned about my husband.”

Mrs Boalch added: “The fire is so close to our summerhouse which was built for my autistic son when he needs a break or has a meltdown,” she said.

“When he was young, he watched a house burn down in our old street back in Lincolnshire. Since then he has been scared of fire.

“This is getting in our houses and the streets stink. I feel angry. We all have sore throats from the burning.”

The mum-of-three said the fire is lit some mornings from 8am up until 5pm in the afternoon.

She said: “We have to run out to bring in our washing. The burning is in the air – we can taste it. It’s all in our clothes.

“The kids can’t sit outside. It has stopped me going out in my garden.

“I had a new extractor fan installed in the bathroom and as soon as moisture hits it, it spins.

“It’s not just me who is upset by this, it’s the whole street.

“We have kept the doors and windows shut but nothing has helped, and it makes no difference.

“This is going on for eight to nine hours a day. It would be better if they did it first thing in the morning or later on in the day for fewer hours.

“You can see thick, black smoke in the air. They must be putting whole trees on the fire. They leave it burning unattended – sometimes it’s still smouldering at 10 o’clock at night.

“I had some plants on the windowsill which I took outside for some fresh air. When I brought them in it made my house stink.”

Mike Treacy, aged 43, of Battenhall Road, said he also had problems with bonfires.

He said: “I am working from home and I am asthmatic, so I have to be careful about going outside.

“For the last two days I have had to keep my windows shut because someone nearby has been putting on what seems like an endless bonfire.

“I’m not sure what the reasons are for them doing it but they need to think that not only is it affecting people like me but people who are far worse off, for example pensioners.

“I have heard from friends that they are having similar problems in places such as Redhill and Barbourne. I just wish these people would think twice before they start their bonfires.”