Complaints over Diwali celebrations going on all night
RESIDENTS UPSET AS GROUPS SET OFF FIREWORKS INTO SMALL HOURS
PEOPLE living in the vicinity of Leicester’s Diwali Day celebrations are complaining that some individuals overstepped the mark by extending the party deep into the early hours of the morning.
Thousands of revellers descended on Cossington Recreation Ground, in Belgrave, to enjoy a spectacular fireworks display marking the end of the annual Hindu festival of light.
They had earlier been treated to rides on a 110ft-tall Wheel of Light Ferris wheel and a programme of Asian arts, crafts, culture and live music and entertainment. But for people living in streets leading off the park, the problem is that the celebrations didn’t stop there.
Rendell Road was among the worst hit, with residents claiming they were subjected to an unrelenting din of noise lasting through the night.
Hasmukh Vyas, 58, who leads the recently-formed
Belgrave Neighbourhood Watch, said: “I didn’t sleep a wink all night, and neither did my wife, daughter or guests we’d invited over for the Diwali Day celebrations.
“The fireworks display in the park was absolutely fantastic, as were most of the events in Belgrave over the last week or so. The problem is, the celebrations in the park should have stopped at 9.30pm but they didn’t.
“Instead of going home, large groups remained in the park and in neighbouring streets setting their own fireworks off all night. It lasted through to at about 4 to 5am.
“Those responsible were mainly youths but there were also adults involved, and these weren’t just any old fireworks – some of them were more like rockets.
“People living in Rendell Road and the surrounding streets have been contacting me all day complaining about the noise and disturbance. Yes, Diwali Day is great but it has to stop sometime and it’s unacceptable to subject residents to this kind of anti-social behaviour.
“There are many older people living here, as well as young families and many have pets who would have been terrified.”
It’s unacceptable to subject residents to this kind of anti-social behaviour.
Hasmukh Vyas
In the worst incident, an exploding firework set fire to the front door of a house in Rendell Road. Mr Vyas said: “They heard the explosion and were alerted to the fire by their dogs.
“It scorched their doorstep and singed the front of the door. No-one was hurt but it could have been a lot worse.
“They contacted the police to complain about what had happened. People shouldn’t have to put up with this.”
Residents are asking for more support from the police and city council.
Mr Vyas said: “I’ve lived here for more than 50 years and things are getting worse. In the old days you used to get Bonfire Night and there would be posters everywhere warning people about letting off fireworks irresponsibly. There used to be a curfew when revellers were asked to leave the park and make their way home. But these days there are no such warnings. “Not long after the official celebrations ended, the organisers from the city council and the police seemed to disappear.”
He added: “We feel strongly that a lot more consideration should be shown to residents in the vicinity of these type of large events. And there should be more support from the police and the council.”
Mr Vyas said he would be passing on residents’ complaints to the city council wardens, Belgrave ward councillors and Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.
A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: “We had a report at 8am on Thursday of firework damage to a front door.
“It set fire to the door mat and melted plastic on the door.
She added: “The incident has been logged as criminal damage and officers will be investigating the matter.”
Leicestershire Police said they received three further reports about fireworks being set off in the area in the early hours.
No-one from Leicester City Council was available to comment at the time of writing.