Fireworks, safety and the law

Please be mindful of other people and animals if you have fireworks at home.

• Blue Cross: fireworks and pets
• RSPCA: pets and fireworks
• Gov.uk: fireworks and the law
• Planning your firework display (PDF) [121KB]

• If you are thinking of holding a public event, please visit the events safety information for organisers page.
• You may need a licence for the storage of fireworks if you want to use a large amount of fireworks.
• County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service: Joint fireworks display set to light up Durham skies

You may need a licence for the storage and sale of fireworks, depending on how much you are storing and when you want to sell them. This also applies to other explosive products, such as flares and marine safety devices, small arms ammunition, fuses, ammunition primers and desensitised explosives.

You are committing an offence if you sell fireworks:

• to anyone under the age of 18 years (under age sales)
• that are louder than 120 decibels
• that do not meet BS7114

Around 1,000 people are injured by fireworks every year - 5% of those injuries are serious. The majority of firework-related injuries happen at family or private parties and around half of those are to children under the age of 17.

Did you know? A rocket can reach speeds of 150mph and sparklers are five times hotter than cooking oil.

• Stay safe with fireworks
• Staying safe with fireworks (PDF) [810KB]

Each year, the fire service deals with hundreds of nuisance incidents relating to bonfires. If you see an illegal bonfire being built, report it to us and will organise for the bonfire to be dismantled.

Make sure you don't leave your rubbish bin out. It, or the rubbish in it, can be used for fuel. A replacement bin costs £25.00.