After Kirkcaldy endured a noisy adhoc firework display, is it time to just ban them?

The question popped into my head on Monday as, along with a fair chunk of Kirkcaldy, I opened my blinds, and wondered who the heck was setting off a display which seemed so loud and so long it probably eclipsed most organised events?

I heard every second of it, but saw nothing which is perhaps not surprising, since it turns out it was taking place well over a mile away on the other side of town.

How many thousands of folk had their evening disrupted by the noise? I’m not saying the walls shook or we had to turn the telly up, but for pity’s sake it went on … and on … and on. Anyone with kids who’d just gone to their beds must have been cursing them under the breath, while dog owners had probably reached that level of quiet fury where it’s best to simply back off, lest they bite you before their petrified mutt does.

Fireworks used to come in a wee box and consisted of a few sparklers, rockets which you chucked in milk bottles, catherine wheels which were nailed to the garden fence, and a wee volcano shaped thing which looked like a walnut whip until it spewed a few seconds of light.

They were designed for your back garden and your enjoyment - not that of people living on the other side of the town.

If you went home with the Standard box from my childhood, your kids would disown you.

Today’s fireworks are industrial in strength, and some folk seem happy to splash out serious money on a display that might look pretty as it lights up the night sky, but it comes with a soundtrack that is deafening and unacceptably intrusive.

But we don’t care what folk think any more. We live in a selfish society where all that matters is what we want to do. Your dog is petrified? Not my problem mate - look at all the likes I got on Facebook and TikTok.

Even if the folk setting them off chapped the doors locally as a courtesy, it counts for nothing given how far the noise travels.

I’ve long advocated fireworks simply shouldn’t be sold to anyone without a licence. No idea how feasible that might be, but giving folk free access to buy as much as they want and let them off when they want, and for as long as they want, has to constitute anti-social behaviour.

Firework exclusion zones are another piece of the jigsaw, but they are entirely reactionary, and, had one been in place, I’m not sure how it would have stopped Monday’s deafening show.

By the time it was reported, tracked down and dealt with, it would have been over - and who exactly does that, police or council staff?

The control zones do make it an offence to set off fireworks anywhere, including on private property. Don’t worry, no-one is going to break down your garden gate if you have a few wee sparklers and party poppers - they are exempt, but they are also the very opposite of the explosives packed into these adhoc shows.

The whole fireworks industry is out of control. The quest for the biggest, most exciting show comes at huge cost to hundreds of people, and more.

Their voices deserve to be heard about the appalling racket.