General Chat

No not me and hubby but some selfish A*******S in my street! I was woken at 4.45 yesterday morning (Saturday) by someone letting off not one or two bangers or skyrockets but a five minute barrage of fireworks. As the weather was so muggy and warm I had the bedroom windows open, as must most of the neighbours. The houses on my street are staggered so I couldn't see from the window where the fireworks were coming from but could tell that at least some of them were the whizz-bang variety and others the sort that fly into the air and then explode in sequence ( a bit like flares) I know that it has become a fashion for fireworks to be used in celebration of weddings, birthdays and various religious festivals etc but at that time of day.......................? With no way of knowing who was responsible I have no recourse to the local council to lodge a complaint. Am I just being an old misery guts ( I'm 52 and really do need my beauty sleep now) or are some people losing all respect for their fellow citizens in pursuit of their own entertainment? Pam (annoyed of Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire)

some people have no respect for others do they we r often woken up by noise in the street and its so hard to get back to sleep after

lynda the whole world is crazy......

Pam, everyone, we had problems earlier this year, apparently, an ethnic group have decided that one way of beating the "Jones's" is to have a bigger and better firework display at their weddings.......regardless of the time of day.... hope fully with this new law it might put a damper on things, But as has been said, how do you catch them?

I wouldn't have minded SO much if it was just the one but having bought some fireworks last November 5th at a cost of more than £20 and being both shocked and disappointed at how few I got for my money, this was a full blown display that must have cost a bomb ( pun intended) No doubt the people responsible had the benefit of a long, drunken lie-in until late afternoon, but what about their neighbours who had their sleep broken and their children awakened at that hour? Another thing that bothered me is that I have 3 cats who are not allowed out between dusk and daylight because of the busy main road we live on and to give birds and other wildlife a fighting chance, but what about other pets? Everyone knows to keep their pets in around the 5th of November but are we expected to keep them in all year round in case some nutter decides to let off fireworks whenever he/she feels like it? Oooh I tell you it makes my blood boil. Pam...........still disgruntled !!!

They should make the shops that sell fireworks have to pay for a licence costing a few thousand pounds which has to be renewed and approved by the police every year. Or a much better idea - Fireworks are for displays only end of story. Lin

Lin - I was going to say exactly the same thing - but there would always be those who would manage to get them illegally or make their own and as other people have said - it's so hard to track down who's using them until it's too late! We've got a disused railway tunnel at the bottom of the embankment to the rear of our house. Kids let off thunderclaps in it - it sounds like WW3. One day the whole thing will collapse with the shock waves from these blasts but they don't seem to realise the danger. Magsx

No Pam you are not a spoilsport i think fireworks are terrible. The new law wont work for as you say how do we catch the culprits. What is the pleasure in it, well to annoy everyone by a few idiots. My dog goes crazy when he hears them and i wish i could stick the rockets and bangers,"where the sun dont shine" LOL thats my rant over. Liz

People have lost the ability to respect other people these days. Perhaps parents don't bother to teach standards and manners today. Jo.

Here in Northern Ireland you need to buy a permit £30 which you then show to the shop owner before you buy your fireworks. Sweet shops do not sell them you go to a reputable dealer. They do not celebrate Guy Fawkes here but Halloween is the BIG event on a scale to USA and the fireworks are used then. I find that although Northern Ireland is part of the UK - some of it's laws are very differnt to the mainland. I think if fireworks were going off every weekend/night then complain - but as a one off I'd be inclined to ask my neighbours if they knew who was celebrating and why. Then judge if it's worth expressing your dissapointment. Much happiness debi

It's time to ban fireworks altogether apart from the night of November 5th when only licenced groups can put on a display. Stop selling them to the public as this usually results in someone being hurt and mindless youths thinking it a great joke to throw them at innocent people. Not forgetting the distress our pets have to go through.

i agree trish !

Margaret, I agree wholeheartly with you. Fireworks should be used only at special displays. I always think of the poor animals in the fields like sheep, cows and horses. My dog gets in such a state with these bangs that I have to have my rubber gloves and Dettol ready. Jo.

pam if you hear fireworks been let off it is an offence like i mentioned on my thread so call the police and they will deal with it.they can be fined £5000.00 and 6 months in prison for this.