In brilliant news for your dog and/or cat, Glasgow is trialling banning fireworks.
Pollokshields, an area in the south of the city, has apparently suffered from the most ‘firework related antisocial behaviour’ – which typically involves people setting fireworks off past 10pm.
The firework control zone (FCZ) will be in place in the Glasgow neighbourhood, which was chosen as ground zero after a consultation with council members and the public. The ban will be in place from November 1 until November 10 this year, and if it’s successful it could extend to the rest of the city sometime in the future.
So what will this law actually look like in practice? Pretty much exactly as you’d expect. It will be considered a legal offence to set off pyrotechnics in any private or public spaces between the given dates, or to fire one into an FCZ. You won’t get in trouble for possessing them, unless you have a suspicious stash of explosives, but that’s always illegal.
Don’t worry though, sparklers won’t be included, so you can go crazy with them. Within reason.
Thirteen more authorities have applied for FCZ, and they’ll be granted or denied within the coming six weeks. If your area is affected you’ll be alerted closer to the time so that you don’t accidentally become a criminal when trying to celebrate bonfire night.
Congratulations, Glasgow. You couldn’t play nicely and now, unfortunately, we’ll have to take the toys away. Hopefully this will all encourage some more mindful use of easily accessible explosives in the future.
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