THICK acrid smoke hanging over a large expanse of Ryde over the past two days, has got residents up in arms.
Firefighters from Newport were called to an area of private land in the vicinity of Quarry Road and Well Street at 9pm last night (Saturday, September 7).
It follows reports of a fire in the open. The fire turned out to be a controlled burn and no action was taken, said a Hampshire and Isle of Wight and Rescue Service spokesperson.
Residents took to social media to complain about the smoke, which has drifted through large parts of Ryde since Friday (September 6).
One resident said: "Woke up to a haze of stinking smoke along our road. The back is as bad. My garden is smoke covered let dog out, and I had a coughing fit. I've never had that with bonfire."
Firefighters returned to station at 9.45pm.
"Any controlled burn that goes on is allowed, unfortunately," another fire spokesperson said.
"If we've been out and checked and we're happy with it, we've got no powers to put out controlled burns.
"There's nothing we can do about it.
"We always advise residents that if they are unhappy, to contact the council's environmental health department.
"We were satisfied with what we did last night."
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