As Bonfire Night celebration kick off today ahead of a weekend of firework displays, it could pay to be aware of little know laws that could lead to fines of up to £5,000.
Bonfire Night is an annual celebration where people across the UK celebrate with colourful firework displays.
The law on firework displays
However, there are certain rules you should be aware of, especially if you are planning a display from home which could risk “unlimited” fines and six months on prison.
You could also face an on-the-spot fine of £90, reports The Mirror.
Several councils including Brent and Sheffield say local residents can be fined as much as £5,000.
In England and Wales it is against the law to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am.
There are certain exceptions to this under the Fireworks Regulations 2004, notably Bonfire Night being midnight and Diwali with cut off point of 1am.
New rules on fireworks in Scotland mean fireworks can only be used between 6pm and 11pm (or midnight on November 5) by the general public.
Causing unnecessary stress to animals
Anyone who is the proud owner of pets will know that this can be a distressing time of year for their four-legged friends.
But did you know, causing unnecessary stress to animals, even through fireworks, is technically a crime?
It can lead to a hefty fine and even possible jail time.
People found to have caused "unnecessary suffering to an animal" falls under the Animal Welfare Act of 2006 and could see those guilty hit with an enormous and unlimited fine.
It is not clear what counts as suffering but the RSPCA has suggested that animals "trembling" in fear and "shaking, panting, and drooling" are clear signs of distress.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here