For weeks each autumn, smoke lingers in the air under the seemingly endless sound of fireworks, dividing people between joy and angst.
Usually, fireworks can only be sold by licensed shops, and can only be set off between 7am and 11pm. But this cutoff extends to midnight on Bonfire Night, and for almost a month from October 15 and November 10, fireworks can be sold by registered sellers, leading to rattle of explosions day and night building up to a free-for-all of colour and noise erupting in the skies on November 5.
With Liverpool Council and other local authorities axing their public fireworks displays over money worries, more people may be taking to the gardens, streets and open spaces to put on their own entertainment. Stood behind the counter of Aigburth Fireworks just south of Sefton Park, 24-year-old Mo Salim, from Toxteth, said he loves "the colours, the bangs, the noise, the excitement" of fireworks, telling the ECHO: "It's just the full package."
