A person or company storing explosives, including fireworks, must have a storage licence. Fife Council has responsibility for administering storage licences in Fife, for quantities of no more than 2000 kg of explosives.
The least expensive licence covers storage of up to 250 kg of hazard type 4 fireworks and you can apply for a licence to cover up to 5 years. Only fixed premises can be registered. Fireworks cannot be sold at market stalls, car boot sales or other temporary sales points.
Download an application form for a storage licence below (PDF format).
Please return your completed application form with any required documents to Trading Standards Team, Economy Planning & Employability, 3rd Floor Main, Fife House, North Street, Glenrothes KY7 5LT.
You can pay online at www.fife.gov.uk or send a cheque made payable to Fife Council to the same address.
Renewed licences will be valid from the date of expiry of the previous licence and will remain in force for up to 5 years as per the application.
Please note: the onus to renew an existing licence is the responsibility of the person who submitted the original application. No reminder letter to renew a licence will be issued by Fife Council.
If you have been granted a storage licence, you are only permitted to sell adult fireworks during the following time periods:
If you wish to sell outside of these periods, you will need to apply for an all-year sales licence and pay a fee of £500.
It is an offence:
To store fireworks on unlicensed premises.
To supply any firework which is not CE marked or fails to comply with BS EN 15947.
To sell fireworks to a person under 18 years of age. The maximum penalty for selling fireworks to anyone under age is a £5,000 fine.
To sell caps, cracker snaps, novelty matches, party poppers, serpents and throw-downs to a person under 16.
Requires any premise selling fireworks must display a A3 sized notice in a prominent position giving the following information:
Firework displays must not be held between 11 pm and 7 am. There are limited extensions to these times on Bonfire Night, Hogmanay, and the first days of the Chinese New Year and Diwali.
If you are planning a late-night firework display or celebration you will need to apply for a dispensation to allow you to use fireworks during the restricted times. There is no fee for this service and you can apply via the link below.
Applications must be received by Fife Council not later than 6 weeks prior to the proposed fireworks display.
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