WE all have certain must-haves when we think about where we live. House hunters' wish lists include all sorts, from dining kitchens to garages, and from gardens to ensuite bathrooms.

My own deal-breaker - the one thing I could not live without in my home - is a real fire.

We talk about home and hearth: it conjures up feelings of warmth, safety and security. Nothing, to me, says home more eloquently than a roaring, cosy fire.

So I was dismayed to learn that serious moves are afoot to clamp down on the burning of coal, as well as on environmentally-unfriendly log-burners.

Of course we need to protect the environment; but the homemaker in me rails against the prospect of losing my cherished coal fires. We have six open fires in our home, three of which are used all through winter - and we buy our coal in half-ton batches, along with seasoned logs by the sack load. That may sound expensive but our central heating is on minimally throughout winter thanks to those fires, and our rooms are warm (and did I mention cosy?) without being remotely stuffy.

The government is planning to phase out the burning of coal in British homes by 2025, environment secretary Michael Gove leading the charge to clamp down on fossil fuels in his zeal to turn the country green.

But I find it hard to believe that those of us with coal fires and log-burners (not guilty on the latter count, Your Honour) are causing so much damage to the environment that our practice needs outlawing. Oh, there'll be all sorts of smokeless alternatives suggested - but nothing beats real coal: and I say that as someone who has tried (and been hugely disappointed by) smokeless coal in the past.

And what about the country's coal merchants? They may be a dwindling breed but this is people's livelihoods that will be seriously affected if Mr Gove's plans go through. Our coal merchant is a great bloke, who works incredibly hard in a back-breaking sector.

In the roll call of environmental villains, those of us with coal fires and log-burners are surely way down the list and well behind the fume-belching diesel vehicle drivers (an offence I ask Your Honour to take into consideration).

Banning coal fires? Why not go the whole hog, Mr Gove, and ban Christmas while you're at it? We lovers of open fires will be absolutely fuming if our cosy lifestyles go up in smoke.

One thing you can bank on, though: if this ban does go ahead, I bet there'll soon be a black market in coal.