Bonfires & Fireworks

Information on Bonfires & Fireworks

Bonfires

In England & Wales under the Highways Act 1980 anyone lighting a fire and allowing smoke to drift across a road faces a fine if it endangers traffic. The Police should be contacted if this happens.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66

It is illegal to burn most types of waste and setting fire to treated wood, tyres, plastics, rubber and oil can seriously harm health and pollute the environment. Any material for the bonfire should be clean, non-commercial waste and only small amounts of untreated wood, paper, leaves, and cardboard should be used.

If anyone sees any suspicious activities they should contact the Environment Agency incident line on 0800 807060 or report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Councils (Bucks Council) must look into complaints about smoke from premises that could be a ‘statutory nuisance’ (covered by the Environmental Protection Act 1990).

For the smoke to count as a statutory nuisance it must do one of the following:

• unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises
• injure health or be likely to injure health

Useful Links:

Fireworks

Adult fireworks are category 2 and 3 fireworks – they do not include things like party poppers.

The law says you must not set off or throw fireworks (including sparklers) in the street or other public places.

You must not set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except for:

• Bonfire Night, when the cut off is midnight
• New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1am

Please note that Ludgershall has many thatched properties and setting off fireworks, particularly in very dry whether, can present a real and present fire risk to these properties. You must act responsibly when setting off fireworks that these are done so away from thatched roofs or other combustible materials.

Useful Links:

Fireworks: the law – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)