Borders MSP Rachael Hamilton has welcomed a "humiliating u-turn" from the SNP over previous plans to ban wood burning stoves.
After campaigning from Rachael Hamilton and pressure from the Scottish Conservatives, the SNP government last week said they had decided not to go ahead with restrictions on the installation of wood burning stoves in newbuild homes or conversions.
The Stove Industry Association (SIA) chairman, Andy Hill, said it was "a common sense and progressive step."
Scottish Borders MSP and Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs , Rachael Hamilton, said: "The SNP's plans to introduce a ban on wood burning stoves would have been deeply damaging if they went ahead, so I welcome this late change of position.
"It is a humiliating u-turn for the SNP to have insisted on this ban so enthusiastically only to reverse course now.
"I have campaigned relentlessly to force this change, so I am delighted that pressure has paid off. This move was necessary to protect those who live off-grid and rely on wood burning stoves particularly in extreme weather conditions.
"However, it is still vital that the Nationalist government confirms they will never attempt to bring this ban back.
"The SNP - and Labour - must also reverse course on their cut to the winter fuel payment, which will have a hugely detrimental impact on many pensioners this winter."
