Police to embed in fire stations to protect crews during Bonfire Night disorder

The move, part of Operation Amberlight, sees police officers based at fire stations in Glasgow and surrounding areas including East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire to provide support to fire service colleagues if they come under attack. The operation runs alongside the existing annual public order operation for Halloween and Bonfire Night, Operation Moonbeam, now in its ninth year.

The operation has grown in scale since an upsurge of disorder in 2023 which left 62 officers injured, with the worst violence in the Niddrie area of Edinburgh where groups of youths attacked officers with fireworks, petrol bombs and other missiles. Glasgow and Dundee have also seen significant disorder in recent years.

Supt Ross Aitken said: "It's to provide support to fire service colleagues. Should they come under attack then the police officers will be there to support them. But it's also just to provide an effective and efficient response to any incidents that may occur."

He added: "The vast majority of the public act in a responsible and safe manner, but to the small minority who are intent on engaging in anti-social behaviour and other criminality - we will adopt a robust response to you."

This year's operation also faces two further challenges in Glasgow: a Uefa Europa League match between Celtic and Turkish side Besiktas kicking off at 20:00, and images circulating online suggesting "planned protest activity" will take place in the city that night. Aitken said the intelligence picture "continues to develop" and would be fed into the planning team.

Fireworks Control Zones (FCZs), which make it a criminal offence to set off a firework within the zone boundary or throw one into a zone, have been used in known trouble spots since 2024. SFRS Commander Mark Cleland said: "If you look at the incident stats over the last few years there's certainly been benefit from the fireworks control zones. And there's been an increase in control zones from 12 to 18 this year so hopefully we will see a further reduction in antisocial behaviour within these zones."

Last year the fire service took around 750 calls on Bonfire Night and attended more than 250 bonfires. Between 31 October and 5 November 2025, police said just over 830 calls needed a local or specialist response, down by more than a third on the previous year. So far this year, there has been a modest decrease in fireworks-related calls to police on Halloween, with 144 received on Saturday night, down from 160 in 2025. But there have been more serious incidents including a firework landing near a pram in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow, leaving a child badly shaken, and reports of fireworks being thrown in the high street in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, where two male youths have since been charged.

On Tuesday police seized 350kg of fireworks worth about £12,000 from an address in the Penilee area of Glasgow, with officers saying they were being sold online and some had the capacity to fire 600 individual rockets.

Animal welfare organisations have also highlighted the distress fireworks can cause to pets, livestock and wildlife. Two years ago Edinburgh Zoo said a three-month-old red panda called Roxie had probably died from stress linked to Bonfire Night fireworks. The zoo now falls within a firework control zone. Ben Supple, deputy chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland which runs the zoo, said: "Ahead of Bonfire Night, we would ask members of the public to be mindful of the impact fireworks can have on animals and to avoid setting them off near the zoo or in areas where they may cause distress to wildlife and pets."

The Scottish SPCA has called for a UK-wide ban on the private sale and use of fireworks, and a 90 decibel noise limit as an interim measure, down from the current 120db limit. The charity advises pet owners to keep animals inside after dark, closing windows, doors and curtains, and having music or the TV on during a nearby display.

Cleland said of firefighters: "They are mums, dads, brothers and sisters just the same as everybody else in the community and we really want our crews to make it home safe."