Kilmarnock fireworks display cancelled after park staff threatened

A fireworks event in East Ayrshire has been cancelled after staff were threatened, a council leisure trust has claimed.

Fawkes Festival held its first event at Dean Castle Country Park in Kilmarnock on Sunday.

The Scottish SPCA called for the second event on Tuesday to be cancelled after concerns were raised around the welfare of animals living in the park.

East Ayrshire Leisure Trust said people also threatened to access animal pens.

It said members of the public had made "direct threats" towards staff at the trust.

A Police Scotland spokesperson confirmed the force had received a complaint of threatening online communications and said inquiries were ongoing.

The trust said the first Fawkes Festival event in the town was held on Sunday with over 4,000 people in attendance.

It said an additional date on Tuesday was announced due to popular demand and was expected to sell out.

The events company has similar fireworks and laser displays planned for West Lothian, East Lothian and London.

Anneke Freel, the chief officer at the trust, said: "We have a zero tolerance policy with regards to threatening/inappropriate behaviour towards all members of our team and the risks have become too great to ignore.

"Health and safety is of paramount importance to our organisation and due to the nature and number of these unauthorised access threats, we can no longer guarantee the safety of the large number of public who are due to attend the event this evening, our staff and the animals.

"The welfare of our animals is also under threat with members of the public threatening to gain unauthorised access to animal pens.

"Although not the intention, this would cause undue stress, which has the potential to put our staff and customers at further risk."

A number of animals live at the rural wildlife centre in the country park, including deer, sheep, goats and pigs.

In a previous statement, Fawkes Festival said it had worked closely with park rangers and the venue to minimise the impact on the animals, which included monitoring them during the event.

However, the Scottish SPCA said it still had "serious concerns" for animals housed in the park.

Scottish SPCA inspector Caitlin Rea said: "We are grateful that East Ayrshire Leisure Trust have listened to our concerns regarding the impact of setting fireworks off in such close proximity to animals that are housed on site and cancelled the planned fireworks display at Dean Castle Country Park."

She added: "Although we appreciate this will be really disappointing for members of the public who were looking forward to the event, we had serious concerns over the use of fireworks in such close proximity to animals that are housed on site.

"We were also extremely worried about the deer at the park as they would have nowhere to hide nor the opportunity to move away.

"Going forward, the local community can ask the council to consider the area part of a 'firework control zone' for next year.

"Our recommendation would be that fireworks are not set off in this location and alternatives should be sought such as the use of drones which have proved successful at other events."

Geoff Crow, director of GC Live which runs Fawkes Festival, said: "We feel saddened for those who were looking forward to these events, particularly for the families and young children who had purchased tickets.

"Historically, these events have been provided free of charge by councils around the country, but post-Covid these events have stopped because councils are unable to fund them.

"Some of these events cost over £100,000 to stage, and what we have tried to do with Fawkes Fest is create a safe and secure environment for members of the public to continue to enjoy these traditions."

The trust confirmed that refunds will be processed automatically by the event team.

The Dean Castle closed to the public in 2018 for a major £5.2m restoration, and reopened in April.