MSPs will be asked to ban Scots from using wood burning stoves.

On Thursday Holyrood’s petitions committee will hear from a campaigner who says Scotland’s 25-year-old clean air laws are not fit for purpose because they allow houses to install the burners.

They already look set to be banned in heavily polluted Brussels, and in London, Mayor Sadiq Khan is keen to challenge their increasing popularity.

Jim Nisbett, who started the petition, said he thought wood burning stoves had become an unnecessary and “trendy” luxury.

“It seems that most properties with log burners also have full gas or electric central heating hence there is no actual need to have them,” Nisbett wrote on his petition. “They are seen as an increasingly ‘trendy’ house accessory to impress friends and guests.”

The appliances are often marketed as a green form of home heating. However, research has lead to growing concern over the impact on air pollution of the particles they produce.