Bonfire Night unrest: Emergency services targeted with fireworks in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Key Points

Officers and fire crews have been hit with projectiles whilst attending incidents throughout the Central Belt
Bus services have stopped operating in parts of Central Scotland due to targeted incidents
Young people have been seen throwing fireworks at each other
No injuries have been reported, however, one police vehicle has been damaged

Emergency services in Glasgow and Edinburgh have been targeted with fireworks amid ongoing Bonfire Night unrest.

Officers and fire crews have been hit with projectiles whilst attending incidents throughout the Central Belt, with police vehicles being struck in Clydebank.

No injuries have been reported, however, one police vehicle has been damaged.

Bus services have stopped operating in parts of Central Scotland due to targeted incidents.

Lothian Buses has removed services from Elm Grove, Ash Grove, and Broomhouse Road in the capital due to ongoing anti-social behaviour, including the firing of fireworks at a bus and the smashing of windows.

One bus in Blackburn had its window smashed after a firework struck it.

In the Sighthill area young people have been seen throwing fireworks at each other, whilst police drones and helicopters are monitoring a large group gathering on Calder Road

There are nine fireworks control zones in force in the capital to November 9 – covering Balerno, Calton Hill, Corstorphine, Gracemount, Longstone, Moredun, Niddrie, Seafield and Sighthill, and in Glasgow, Pollokshields, Govanhill and Broomhouse will be covered until November 10.

As part of Operation Moonbeam, officers have had stop and search powers since 3pm.

So far, Police Scotland has seen a decrease in the number of incidents compared to last year

Past disorder

Bonfire Night has in recent years seen repeated disorder and anti-social behaviour in some parts of Scotland.

Over 60 people were reported for their involvement in fireworks offences over the period last year.

During just a four-week period, 46 people were treated in hospital for firework-related injuries, with nearly half requiring plastic surgery or specialist healthcare, according to the Care of Burns in Scotland partnership.

Seasoned firefighter Debbie McCafferty described the terrifying moment her crew came under attack with fireworks while responding to a bonfire in Carluke last year.

“I looked around to my left, and an unexploded firework had hit a trainee firefighter on his leg,” she said. “We both instinctively kicked it away, and then it went off. It was horrible, really horrible.”

Police Scotland said it is bringing more resources than ever before to tackle firework-related crimes.

Dubbed Operation Moonbeam 2025, the effort will see specialist public order officers join local policing divisions across Scotland.

Fireworks set off in Pollokshields in 2023

In 2023, around 50 young people clashed with officers in what was described as “unprecedented levels of violence” in Edinburgh and four people, including a police officer, were taken to hospital in Glasgow following a “mass brawl” in the Barmulloch area.

Laws were brought in following major disorder in Dundee’s Kirkton area in 2022.