Edinburgh firework ban applications double

Nine communities in Edinburgh have applied for fireworks to be banned from their areas in the days around Bonfire Night.

It is more than twice the number that applied for the same restrictions last year. A consultation is now under way.

Corstorphine, Longstone, Sighthill/Broomhouse, Gracemount and Moredun are new to the list which also includes last year's areas of Niddrie, Balerno, Seafield and Calton Hill.

The control zones would run for 10 days around 5 November. Anyone setting off a private firework during this period would be committing a criminal offence.

Communities in last year's four firework control zones (FCZ) in the capital have to re-apply each year for the temporary order.

It follows serious disorder in the Niddrie area in 2023, and support for a ban from community groups and animal welfare charities.

Police officers were also attacked with fireworks, bricks and bottles during Bonfire Night last year in the Gilmerton and Sighthill areas of Edinburgh.

And a police officer was injured and more than a dozen buses were damaged in Edinburgh on Halloween.

Riot police were pelted with bricks and fireworks in the city's Niddrie area, while a female officer hurt when the window of her vehicle was shattered.

An open-top bus carrying young people with disabilities was also targeted with fireworks outside the city's Dynamic Earth attraction.

Results of the consultation, which runs until 29 July, will be reported to the City of Edinburgh Council's culture and communities committee in August.

Margaret Graham, the local authority's culture and communities convener, said: "We want people to be able to enjoy Bonfire Night safely and responsibly, and introducing FCZs is one way we can support communities to do that.

"As well as drawing on experience from last year's FCZs, this consultation will help us to better understand the impact on residents as we approach autumn 2025."