BRADFORD Council has said on its own website it is “nigh on impossible” to catch people letting off fireworks anti-socially or illegally in the district.

It says the Council’s noise nuisance laws are not applicable to firework noise.

This revelation follows photos emerging showing more than 60 spent firework boxes dumped on the pavement in West Bowling following Sunday night’s barrage of fireworks.

The deafening racket went on for around 15 minutes at about 11pm on Sunday, and could be heard up to seven miles away.

The boxes were found, with large amounts of debris in the road, in Newton Street, West Bowling, just off St Stephen’s Road and right next to a nursery.

One local resident said she was told two weddings on Sunday in Newton Street and Parkside Road were to blame for the mess and noise.

Bradford Council states it can deal with nuisance noises such as persistent dog barking and loud music, but the laws aren’t applicable to fireworks.

It said: “A ‘nuisance in law’ must be a continuous state of affairs. A firework event, held maybe once a year for an hour or so, is not ongoing.

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“It would be difficult to prove beyond all reasonable doubt (nuisance law is criminal law) that any one event or person is solely causing the noise problem when there may be scores of similar events in the locality.

“Bradford covers a huge area with thousands of buildings and gardens. To pinpoint which premises is hosting the event from an explosion occurring in the night sky and identifying the person responsible, which may be different from the owner, even with access to the premises is nigh on impossible.

“By virtue of the cost of fireworks, few firework events last long enough for our noise patrol to reach them before they - and the evidence needed - are over.”

Local residents said the fireworks on Sunday sounded more like bombs going off, and fireworks seem to be becoming an almost nightly occurrence in Bradford.

Councillor Talat Sajawal (Little Horton, Independent) slammed the people who dumped the spent fireworks.

He said: "It's absolutely ridiculous, I know people are celebrating but to leave your rubbish in the street, it's just fly tipping.

"These sort of people need to be held to account for what they have done. Yes, celebrate, but don't leave your rubbish for others to clean up.

"It is a total disregard for the area we have been working so hard to rejuvenate and clean up."

Cllr Sajawal did however say catching those setting off fireworks at anti-social hours is difficult, and likely not to be a top priority, and education is needed to curb the issue.

"It is wedding season, the majority of these are wedding celebrations," he added.

"I can understand how difficult it can be to eliminate something like this, it is really hard to find the perpetrators.

"The police have a lot more serious work to do so are not going to respond to this as an emergency or priority.

"It is hard to bring people to book with how fast you would have to act to get there and catch those responsible.

"I don't think there is much we can do apart from educate people. Education is the most important thing, getting people into community centres to speak about the impact setting off fireworks is having on the local area."

Setting off fireworks after 11pm is punishable by a £5,000 fine or six months in prison, and people can also be slapped with a £90 fine on the spot. Only licensed outlets are allowed to sell fireworks all year round.