Bonfire nights ditched under passports threat

FIREWORK displays are being scrapped because of fears vaccine passports will make the events unfeasible.

Leeds and Cambridge councils are among those to have called off public bonfires and fireworks, saying it will be almost impossible to ensure everyone has the correct Covid vaccination status.

In its winter plan, the Government warned that if the virus spreads rapidly during the colder months, a Plan B could be activated. This includes requiring people to prove they have been double jabbed if they want to attend large outdoor events.

The measure will be introduced with just a week’s notice, meaning bonfire night organisers will face an impossible scramble to ensure they are ready to receive guests.

Anna Smith, councillor for communities in Cambridge, said: “Up until the publication of the winter plan we had been aiming to go ahead.

“We had hoped free, largescale outdoor events would be given some certainty in the winter plan, but the opposite is true – we have much less certainty than we did before.”

Tom Smith, of the British Pyrotechnists Association, added: “The display industry is being hit, mostly by a reluctance of organisers to risk being perceived as a “super-spreader” event.

“Outdoor events with plenty of space and lots of fresh air are probably the least likely to be a concern. Trial events in the summer helped demonstrate this.”