Briquettes are the hot new thing for your wood-burning stove, so cut out the logs

Hugely popular elsewhere in Europe, briquettes are beginning to take off in the UK - and they're good for your fireplace or stove, your pocket and the environment

They burn hotter and cleaner, are cheaper to buy, and much easier to store and handle - so why do so few people with open fires and wood-burning stoves use recycled wood briquettes to heat their home?

Big in Europe, but still largely untried by many fire users in the UK - particularly in the south - those selling them claim that once you have tried briquettes, you'll never go back to hauling piles of logs off your drive.