Bonfires

It is an offence to throw a firework in or into any road or public place. A person guilty of such an offence can liable to a fine of up to £5000.

It is an offence for a person under the age of eighteen years to possess certain types of fireworks in a public place.

Lighting a bonfire on private land in itself is not illegal (although it can be if within 30 meters of a road - see SQ625), but the smoke created can be a statutory nuisance.

Lighting a bonfire can be illegal if a person lights a fire, or directs/permits such fire, on land and the fire/smoke injures, interrupts or endangers users of a highway/carriageway.

Otherwise, the smoke created by the fire can be a statutory nuisance, and the environmental health department of your local authority will be able to take action if the smoke is classed as a statutory nuisance. You need to record the details of who is lighting the fires, what time, what the effects were and your details.

If the fires are very irregular then it is unlikely that the council will take any action. The council can stop the person from committing a statutory nuisance and failure to comply can lead to prosecution.

Please see the links in Related Information for further details.

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;
• it is illegal to supply adult fireworks to those under 18;
• 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.);
• to light any fire, or permit a fire to spread to, within 30 meters of a road which causes damage to the road or endangers road users.
• to light a fire in a public place so as to endanger any other person or give them reasonable cause for alarm or annoyance or so as to endanger any property.
  

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).

The penalties for using fireworks outside the above curfew hours are imprisonment (maximum 6 months) and a substantial fine. Please note, you could also commit offences if they were being used to cause a nuisance.