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Autumn has officially begun, the days are getting shorter and our gardens are rapidly filling with piles of dead leaves, acorns and dead plants.

If you're not lucky enough to have a garden waste collection from your local council - or you simply have more than will fit in it - then one quick and easy route to getting rid of excess garden waste which gardeners have been using for decades now is burning.

Most DIY and garden centre stores sell burning bins expressly for the purpose of setting fire to your garden waste to burn it away.

While the process is perfectly legal if done correctly, there are some rules you need to follow in order to avoid an 'unlimited fine' and possible police action for breaking environmental or traffic laws.

Salford City Council sets out that domestic bonfires, chimineas and barbecues are all legal, but if you regularly burn waste in your garden, it could become a 'nuisance' offence subject to an 'unlimited fine'.

The authority explains: "Domestic bonfires, chimineas and smoky barbecues can be very irritating to the occupiers of surrounding premises. The smoke and smell may prevent your neighbours hanging out washing, opening windows and using their outdoor areas.

"It is not unreasonable to have an occasional barbecue, or to occasionally burn clean, dry wood or garden waste on a bonfire. However, if you have fires regularly, they may constitute a statutory nuisance under section 79 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

"If a nuisance is confirmed by an authorised officer, an abatement notice will be served on the person responsible. A breach of the notice can result in a prosecution in the magistrates' court and a potentially unlimited fine, together with a further fine for each day the notice continues to be breached.

"If you must have a bonfire, never burn any toxic items such as treated or painted wood, rubber, plastic, foam or paint - these can release toxic pollutants. These items can be disposed of at your local recycling centre or we can collect bulky items.

"Avoid burning at weekends, bank holidays and when smoke may be blown into a neighbours garden. Only burn dry material and don't leave a fire unattended or smouldering."

The council also says it can be an offence if you create smoke which then drifts into a road, and this is a crime enforced by police.

It adds: "Do not allow the smoke to drift across a road - anyone lighting a fire and allowing smoke to drift across a highway that endangers road users faces an unlimited fine under Section 161A of The Highways (Amendment) Act 1986, this legislation is enforced by the police."