Peterborough council leader calls for change in fireworks law after displays take place in the middle of the day

The leader of Peterborough City Council has called for a change in the law regarding fireworks – after a ‘display’ was set off in the middle of the day in the city at the weekend.

Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald said he had received a number of complaints around firework use, acknowledging the impact it has on a number of people – especially dog owners.

He was asked about the issue in his ‘Ask the Leader’ video, released earlier this week, with resident Sam Carter asking: “What is being done regarding the anti-social behaviour in the PE1 area. I’ve made several reports to police over the past 12 months in relation to multiple occasions of disturbances. The key issue is fireworks.”

Cllr Fitzgerald replied: “It must be weekly I get this question. And the strange thing was, on Saturday (September 23) morning at 11am I was out in town, just off Padholme Road, just minding my own business delivering a few leaflets. I could hear no end of banging and whizzing and whooshing. I think it was coming from the community centre around the corner.”

He added: "It is really challenging to tackle this, because is it anti-social behaviour, because that is a police issue, is it noise pollution, which is a council issue, it is all sorts of things.

"The stress and strain on pets and animals is great, and something I entirely recognise.

"I’ve been having lots of discussions with Paul Bristow MP, and I pushed him to raise a 10 minute ruling, or a private members bill, something to get a change in the law, particularly around the use of fireworks.”

Cllr Fitzgerald urged people to report issues regarding fireworks to the council, or police if it was believed the law was broken.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “We’ve recently received reports about the anti-social use of fireworks across Peterborough during late hours of the night which has been causing some residents distress and anxiety, in particular those with pets.

“While we appreciate these are often used as part of celebrations and we don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, we would like to put out a polite reminder about their legal use and being considerate of neighbours.

“Fireworks can be used in the UK any time between 7am and 11pm, exceptions are:

· Bonfire night – 7am to midnight

· New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year – 7am to 1am the following day

“Should we encounter people letting off fireworks after 11pm contravening the Fireworks Regulation 2004, and a suspect can be readily identified, then we would look to record the crime and investigate as per any other crime.

“Information about fireworks, the law and the penalties can be found on our dedicated fireworks information webpage, along with the option to report anti-social behaviour (ASB), or you can call 101.

“Please continue to report incidents to us as this will help us identify any hotspot locations and carry out more directed patrols if particular streets are experiencing high levels of ASB relating to fireworks.”