Police have thanked the public after this year’s Bonfire Night was mostly celebrated without disorder.
Additional police patrols were deployed in Nottingham and other parts of the county after disorder involving hundreds of people broke out on 5 November in recent years.
Ahead of this year’s Halloween and Bonfire Night period, Nottinghamshire Police liaised closely with key partners on a comprehensive operation designed to keep people safe.
In Nottingham, measures to prevent similar scenes included additional police patrols, deployment of a brand new CCTV van and heightened security at locations where disorder broke out previously.
Multiple dispersal orders were also in place, giving officers the power to direct a person engaging in anti-social behaviour to leave a specified area for 48 hours. Those who refuse to leave can then be arrested.
In total, just one arrest was made after officers searched a 20-year-old for fireworks but instead found a bag of white power, suspected to be cocaine. He was subsequently arrested for possession of a Class A drugs and taken into custody.
Others were dispersed and officers also seized a large amount of fireworks from individuals in order to prevent disorder.
The arrest took place in Radford where, following an evening largely without large-scale disorder, officers were called to student accommodation in Alfreton Road at 1.15am this morning, amid reports of people launching fireworks inside the complex.
The crowd was dispersed and thankfully no injuries were reported.
Superintendent Chris Pearson said it had been a successful policing operation, adding measures will remain in force over the coming nights to keep people safe. He said:
“First and foremost, I want to offer my thanks to the vast majority of people across Nottingham and the wider county for enjoying Bonfire Night safely and responsibly.
“While officers were required to deploy to a small number of incidents, there was a significant reduction in serious disorder offences occurring.
“Overall, the policing operation was a success and I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of our officers who did some great work to ensure that people remained safe and that any disorder was responded to immediately.
“I would also like to thank our partners at Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, both universities and Student Roost for working closely with us to make this a successful operation.
“There will be follow-up criminal inquiries undertaken in relation to some of the offences that took place, and I want to make it clear again that the criminal use of fireworks will not be tolerated.”
