Somerset startup turning bracken into biofuel gets thumbs up from Michael Eavis

New company, Brackenburn, harvests local bracken to create briquettes, encouraging biodiversity in the process

In the days of Thomas Hardy, west country folk used to head to the moors and commons to cut the furze (or gorse) for kindling. More than 100 years on, a project has been launched to harvest another crop to keep the home fires burning.

Backed with public money, a company has been formed to harvest bracken to create briquettes that it claims burn longer and more fiercely than oak in fireplaces and stoves.