Charity slams fireworks parties on nature reserves

Kent Wildlife Trust said its staff spent hours cleaning up sparklers, rockets, beer bottles and litter

A wildlife charity has slammed those responsible for setting off fireworks at nature reserves.

Kent Wildlife Trust said its staff spent hours cleaning up sparklers, rockets, beer bottles and litter at Darland Banks in Gillingham and Bluebell Hill in Maidstone at the weekend.

Alison Ruyter, the trust’s area manager, said bangers and rockets were even set off next to a herd of longhorn cattle.

“The people behind this are incredibly selfish and their actions irresponsible,” she said.

Kent Wildlife Trust has slammed those responsible for a series of unauthorised displays at nature reserves

She said the cattle at Darland Banks helped to naturally manage the nature reserve through conservation grazing.

“Thankfully by morning, the longhorns were all calm and had not been injured, but they would have suffered distress when the display was ongoing,” she said.

The charity said on X, fomerly Twitter, that the cattle were "ok, despite the unauthorised display they were subjected to".

Meanwhile, at Bluebell Hill, Ms Ruyter said revellers had created a bonfire which damaged an area of the reserve, and left sparklers everywhere.

“This area is popular with dog walkers and the sparklers had been poked into hedgerows in a way that could stab and injure a dog running around the area,” she said.

The trust also requested for people to refrain from dumping post-Halloween pumpkins in woodland after a number of them were left around the trail in Cromer Woods, Sittingbourne.