PEOPLE in North Ayrshire have been praised for largely sticking to the law on Bonfire Night and the run up to it.

Ayrshire’s top police officer said there were “no incidents which caused great angst” in North Ayrshire on the approach to November 5 and the night itself.

Firefighters removed 'early bonfires' in Stevenston and Irvine and also got rid of some items it was believed had been assembled with the intention of starting a bonfire.

Chief Superintendent Faroque Hussain joined forces with Ian McMeekin, area manager for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, for a joint patrol on Bonfire Night itself.

Mr Hussain told North Ayrshire councillors that the duo had found the area “much busier than we thought” following the cancellation of major events in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

 “On Bonfire Night me and Ian patrolled together and we went round respective police and fire stations and met crews,” he said.

“There was an opportunity to have two radio channels to understand what was happening.

“The number of organised events were far busier than we had anticipated and there were far higher numbers than in previous years. There were no incidents which caused great angst.

“Pre Saturday, November 5, there were bonfires on waste ground in Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston area but no reported incidents. 

“The fire service were able to identify early bonfires and removals took place in Lundholm Road, Stevenston and a small fire was removed from Pladda Avenue, Irvine, along with some in Pennyburn and Stevenston where youths were storing mattresses and targeting industrial areas. 

“There were 12 incidents over the weekend in terms of bonfires and it was a successful multi-agency approach, we did not see any disruption. 

“Displays in Kilwinning, Dreghorn and the Three Towns were well organised.”

Mr McMeekin added: “Doing the patrols that night gave us a flavour of how much was going on.  It was great to see the partnership working.

“The work we did had benefits. We were  mobilising a number of officers on November 4 and 5 to look at incidents to see if they were being run safely. A lot of work has had a safer impact on the local residents.

“It was a positive partnership working and looking at it in the longer term it should have a safe impact locally.”