Fireworks: The Law and How To Report

The Law
How To Report
Animal Welfare Act
RSPCA
British Horse Society
Small Claims Court
Noise Nuisance
Illegal Sales & Storage

The Law

England & Wales:

Under the Firework Regulations 2004, it is an offence to:

  • possess adult fireworks (all fireworks except category 1 fireworks – party poppers, sparklers, throwdowns etc) in a public place by anyone under the age of 18;
  • possess category 4 fireworks (professional display fireworks) by anyone other than a fireworks professional;
  • supply adult fireworks to those under 18;
  • set off fireworks (including sparklers) in the street or other public places;
  • throw or cast or fire any firework in or into any highway, street, thoroughfare or public space (this would include throwing or firing from a private place into a public place, street, highway etc).

Under the Highways (Amendment) Act 1986:

If a person without lawful authority or excuse discharges any firearm or firework within 50 feet of the centre of a highway, and in consequence a user of the highway is injured, interrupted or endangered, that person is guilty of an offence.

There is a curfew on the use of adult fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except on:

  • Bonfire Night (when the curfew is between 12 midnight and 7am);
  • New Years Eve (when the curfew is between 1am and 7am);
  • Chinese New Year (when the curfew is between 1am and 7am);
  • Diwali Night (when the curfew is between 1am and 7am).

You can be fined up to £5,000 and imprisoned for up to 6 months for selling or using fireworks illegally. You could also get an on-the-spot fine of £90

Buying Fireworks:

You can only buy fireworks (including sparklers) from registered sellers for private use on these dates:

  • 15 October to 10 November
  • 26 to 31 December
  • 3 days before Diwali and Chinese New Year

At other times you can only buy fireworks from licensed shops (Licence information)

Scotland:

  • You must be over 18 to have, buy or set off ‘adult’ fireworks. You can only use these in a private place like your garden.
  • Adult fireworks are category 2 and 3 fireworks and include things like rockets and Roman candles – they do not include sparklers and party poppers. 
  • It is against the law to have adult fireworks or pyrotechnics like flares in a public place (includes the street, parks, and roads) without a reasonable excuse. These rules are stricter at large sport and music events where no fireworks at all are allowed, including category 1 fireworks.

You can only use adult fireworks in private places, between 6pm and 11pm. 

It is illegal to set them off at other times, except for: 

  • Bonfire Night (5 November), when the cut off is midnight 
  • New Year’s Eve, the night of Chinese New Year, and Diwali, when the cut off is 1am 

There are different rules in areas designated as Firework Control Zones where you must not set off fireworks anywhere at any time.

If you break these rules, you could be fined up to £5,000, sent to prison for up to 6 months, or both. It is illegal to use fireworks against an emergency worker. If you do this, courts may impose a stricter sentence.

Public fireworks displays:

There is an exception for organised public firework displays and professionally organised displays which can take place from 7am on the above dates. 

There are a small number of other exceptions. Read the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act 2022 to find out more.

Buying Fireworks:

You must be: 

  •  over 18 to buy ‘adult’ fireworks 
  • over 16 to buy category 1 fireworks (except for Christmas crackers and percussion caps for toy guns)

It is also illegal for adults to make fireworks or pyrotechnics available to anyone under the age of 18.

When you can buy fireworks:

You can buy fireworks for private use from registered sellers on: 

  • 15 October to 10 November 
  • 26 to 31 December  
  • Diwali and the 3 days before Diwali 
  • the first day of Chinese New Year, and the 3 days before it

At other times you can only buy fireworks from specialist shops.

It is against the law for adults to buy, sell or give fireworks to anyone under 18, except category 1 fireworks (some sparklers, party poppers, novelty crackers).

How To Report

It is illegal to use fireworks in a public space or outside the curfew or by anyone below 18 years old

What to do if someone is using fireworks illegally:

Please make sure you report all illegal firework use to the police. Without this information Government has no data to prove there is a problem.

Phone: If fireworks are being used dangerously report to the police on 999, otherwise it’s 101. Ask them to log it and provide you with an incident number.

You can quote the Firework Regulations 2004 and the Highways (Amendment) Act 1986 as appropropriate.

Online Reporting is now available for over 85% of forces. This will roll out nationwide if successful so please use it (see below for guide on how to report):

You need to:

  • Click REPORT
  • Click REPORT ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
  • Answer 3 questions YES or NO
  • Enter address or click on map
  • Click YES
  • Click NEIGHBOURHOOD AREA OUTSIDE MY HOME, MY PLACE OF WORK
  • Click FIREWORKS BEING USED DANGEROUSLY OR INAPPROPRIATELY
  • Click on appropriate TAB
  • Scroll down page and click START

The above all use a standardised reporting format but if your local force isn’t listed it’s still worth checking if you can report online as some others have their own system eg:

Avon & Somerset Police have their own system – click here

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111 or go online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Animal Welfare Act

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 states it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to any captive or domestic animal. Government advice is – Fireworks must not be set off near livestock or horses in fields or close to buildings housing livestock. Anyone planning a firework display in a rural area should warn neighbouring farmers in advance.

Section 4 of the AWA 2006 says ……

(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) an act of his, or a failure of his to act, causes an animal to suffer,
(b) he knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the act, or failure to act, would have that effect or be likely to do so,
(c) the animal is a protected animal, and
(d) the suffering is unnecessary.

If the fireworks are near a road you can also contact the Highways division of your council and quote the following Source: Explosives Act 1875 Section 161

The offence carries a fine of up to £20,000 and/or a prison term of up to six months. The Act is enforced by local councils, animal health officers and the police.

What you can do:

Advice from a retired Police Woman:

  1. Film and record the fireworks, be sure that you can prove where they are being set off (ideally you need an address). Keep hold of flyers for organised displays etc.
  2. Record your pets/horses’ reactions to the fireworks whether it’s running around in a panic, sweating profusely, injuries, damage such as doors kicked off their hinges.
  3. Call the vet out. The animals need to be seen at their worst not 12 hours later when you have washed the sweat off and cleaned up the stable full of runny poo! Yes it might cost you a few £££ but unless the animals have been seen by someone qualified AND they say that unnecessary suffering has been caused, you don’t have a leg to stand on. Ensure they take notes – as much detail as possible because it may be required for a statement later on.

Having got all that you can then go to the police. Make sure they give you an incident number, without which the data is not collected and never reaches government figures.

You can also report all problems regarding animals and fireworks to the RSPCA (click here) or telephone: 0300 1234 999 and/or the BHS (click here) if a horse is involved. The British Horse Society also have an app – Horse i – where all incidents involving horses can be reported quickly and easily. You will receive a confirmation email with a case number for every report.

Small Claims Court

If the police are not interested with all that evidence then another avenue is the Small Claims Court if the claim is under £5,000.

We have found out that the Small Claims Court may be used in firework cases. I haven’t discovered any as yet but I believe it may be done. Animals are considered property in law. That is one reason the punishment does not seem to fit the crime when they are stolen. It is considered the same as someone stealing your phone. BUT this is a good thing.

If someone damages your property you can go to the SMC and ask that they pay. Damage to your dog could be, veterinary costs for a firework incident. Say if your neighbours fireworks hit the dog. If your horse has an accident because someone let fireworks off near your field (especially after you have informed them what the consequences may be) and your horse is devalued because of it, you would have a claim.

As I said I don’t know if this has been attempted or not yet. If anyone does try it please let us know. The SMC is a very easy and cheap process. It is not at all intimidating, I have used it myself when someone refused to pay for a horse. The downside with it is that if the perpetrator has no money you will get none. The upside is that this is all grist to the mill for the campaign and you would wonder at how many claims it would take before someone higher up the food chain takes notice.

Please contact us if you are thinking of doing this, we will support you as much as we can.

Noise Nuisance

Contact your local authority via their website. It may be under noise nuisance or anti social behaviour.

Illegal Sales & Storage

Illegal sales and storage of fireworks should be reported to Trading Standards

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