Does anyone know the law regarding display grade fireworks being let off in back gardens?

[hamsterupatree]

My cat is in urinary retention due to inflammation caused by the stress of fireworks being let off on our estate. I've had her to the vets for treatment. Last year someone's dog had a stroke.

We've had problems for the past two years from someone on the estate putting on a fireworks display and using display grade fireworks. The noise is extremely loud and people's pets, and presumably the wildlife and livestock, are suffering. The loudness is the same as in an organised display.

The police visited him last year and told him he couldn't let them off in the public area, but he did it last night in someone's back garden.

I can't get a definitive answer as to whether this is legal to let fireworks of this size off in a domestic setting. Does anyone know?

I've phoned the council this morning so that the information gets across to the neighbourhood wardens. The council lady told me to phone the police as well. Can anyone actually put a stop to this or is this just how the UK is now?

My understanding is that Cat4 are professional grade and illegal for domestic use. How you'd prove that this muppet was using professional grade fireworks is another question, however. There's also a sound restriction (120Db), but again, it's proving it.

Having said that, setting them off in public is supposed to also be illegal, yet when I called the police last weekend about a group of tossers throwing them at each other at the local train station, they weren't interested in that either.

I'm also frustrated at the inability to lead a peaceful life in this country. Makes me so angry.

I don't know what to do about it.

Sadly there's not really anything you can do.

Cystease is brilliant if you haven't already started it

I have no idea about the legal side but recommend you get your cat something like gabapentin to use at this time of year. My cat has feline idiopathic cystitis, when he gets extra stressed we up the dose to avoid urinary retention occurring. You shouldn’t have to do it I know and the guy doing the display is a knob, but it will help your cat in the long term

Just remembered . . . one of the horsey groups I'm on online suggested making reports to Crimestoppers. Again, not sure what it will achieve for you, but you can do this anonymously.

Yes she's had an injection of metacam and I have Cystease in because my other cat is on it. I have to go back to the vets for an opiate if she hasn't passed urine by about 3pm.

I've bought some Zylkene as well at the vet's suggestion.

I'll have a look at Crime stoppers.

There are various phone apps that measure decibel sounds. Some free. Might be worth trying to record?

Hi, Grade 4 fireworks are not available to the public, although they somehow get hold of them. Grade 3 should have 25m clearance all round Grade 2 some say 8m, Grade 1 are sparklers, smoke bombs etc. There is an app which measures decibels but I don't think it would stand up in court. If it is a regular thing you could ask trading standards and IF they aren't busy they MAY attend to measure for you....(don't hold your breath for that kind of help though.)
I run The Firework Campaign, we have been advised to report on crimestoppers. It would be good if everyone did this, then the stats will go to the government and would soon be difficult to ignore.
Please all follow/subscribe or join The Firework Campaign to help us move forward... website, fb or X Thanks Julie

He's a firework salesman, so I'm totally convinced they're grade 4 fireworks. They're extremely loud and high.

I'm currently in the process of contacting my MP. I didn't get the impression that crimestoppers would be appropriate because it wasn't happening in the street.

If he is letting off cat 4 fireworks in his garden and is a firework seller it may well not be illegal..although it is a dramatic bend in the law. The thing to go with as you don't know for sure is...firstly how big is his garden? How close to neighbours in each direction where he fires them from. Distance is only guidance which is rubbish. I would def go to MP anyway, it doesn't hurt to let them know how badly things are going wrong and that we need some kind of change. Good Luck..Let me know how you get on..

I"d concentrate on what you can do for your cat during this period of the year to help, rather than hoping to get the fireworks salesman to stop letting off bangers in his garden. They're a menace, but they are part of living in a built up area, your tension will pass on to your animals, so waging a fruitless war won't necessarily help.

The issue with that is that it used to be one night a year, and fireworks of old were nowhere near as loud. I've just been posting on another thread about the same thing, and it is getting ridiculous. All last weekend, then Tuesday, now this weekend as well, and you never know when someone is going to decide to let them off. There is only so much you can do to protect your pets. If it sounds like a bomb and it's very audible even through double glazing from a couple of hundred yards away, it has no place in a housing estate.

Are there any covenants applying to the housing estate? Something around quiet enjoyment ? I'd measure the decibels and then see if you complain that way

It's a new build estate, so gardens are small and houses are quite close together. These aren't a few bangers in the garden. They sound like bombs going off.

I've written to the MP.

That's a good idea about reporting to Crimestoppers...

Crimestoppers yes and then https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700013

Some people are just proper cunts aren't they.

I would focus on what you can do for your cat throughout October/nov/december (because these cunts love setting fireworks off sporadically during the whole winter season)