Bonfire Night partnership sees success near Bulwell

Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, Nottingham Council and Nottingham City Homes worked together to prevent deliberate fires being started around Bonfire Night in the Lytham Gardens area of Bestwood, where there have been problems over several years.

The council undertook clean-up operations to deal with fly tipping, bulky waste, and rubble, to remove items which potentially could have been set on fire.

When items began to build up on a grass area, partners reacted quickly to have this removed to stop a deliberate fire being started.

As part of the action, a dispersal order was put in place by Nottinghamshire Police for 48 hours to prevent large gatherings – one male arrested for breaching the dispersal notice.

The fire service said the work saw no deliberate fires set over the period and there were very few issues with antisocial behaviour.

Partnership work will be ongoing in the run up to the Christmas period with a fire service community engagement event on December 15 and promotion of the free Firestoppers scheme to encourage anonymous reporting of deliberate fire starting.

Chris Clark, NFRS group manager for prevention, said: “The work our prevention team and crews have done with partners this year has produced some excellent results and meant we could continue to be available for anyone who needed us.

“We want to thank the people of Nottinghamshire for having a safe Bonfire Night, and hope they keep safe during the festive period too.”