Council has 'hands tied behind back' when it comes to firework menace

Calls for tougher measures to tackle firework use in the district were discussed at a meeting of Bradford Council on Tuesday.

But Councillors pointed out that unless national legislation over fireworks was changed by Government, the Council would be left with few powers to regulate items that are legal to sell and legal to buy.

And some pointed out that last winter Jacob Rhys Mogg, then Commons Leader, dismissed calls for tougher regulation of fireworks – referring to them as “a little bit of harmless fun.”

Councillor Julie Glentworth (Cons, Keighley West) raised a motion at a meeting of the Council calling for the authority to get tougher on the blight of anti-social firework use.

She said residents regularly complained about fireworks being set off in the middle of the night, and even being used as weapons.

Cllr Glentworth said Bradford’s firework’s problem had achieved national prominence on an episode of BBC documentary Bradford on Duty. One episode showed emergency services being attacked with fireworks.

She said: “Numerous people have contacted me about youths pointing fireworks at them – they are desperately calling for an end to this ongoing problem.”

As well as the noise issue, she pointed out that fireworks also led to air quality problems. She said: “Having fireworks go off every day undermines the Clean Air Zone.”

She urged the Council to look at what other authorities have done to try to tackle the illegal and anti-social use of fireworks.

Councillor Brendan Stubbs (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) said: “It is disappointing that every two years we have this debate and I have the feeling we won’t move forward today.

“No-one in this chamber is daft enough to think that what we say today will lead to a panacea to deal with this problem. It is not in the power of people sat here – it is the power of people in Government.

“We have one are, of not both arms tied behind our backs when it comes to this issue.”

Fireworks in Little Germany (Image: T&A)

He referred to Rhys Mogg’s comments about fireworks last year, pointing out that ministers did not seem to realise how bad the issue was in Bradford.

He added: “If it was just a case of fireworks at the odd show or two a year, then I would agree with Mr Rhys Mogg. Until legislation is approved we are going to continue to suffer from this issue. Currently fireworks are readily available and in the hands of people who really shouldn’t be able to buy fireworks.”

Councillor Abdul Jabar, Bradford Council's executive member for community safety, said: “We’re calling for the district MPs to lobby ministers. The Government have no intention of acting on fireworks – in Parliament Jacob Rhys Mogg said he was unsympathetic to our plight.

“But we will not take no for an answer when we ask the Government to take proper action.”