A TOTAL of 72 packs of fireworks have been removed from sale from retail premises across East Lothian following checks carried out by Trading Standards staff and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service officers.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “New regulations came in earlier this year which meant that from July 2017 all fireworks sold in the UK must carry a CE mark, which is a symbol applied to products to indicate that they conform with relevant EU directives regarding health and safety or environmental protection.

"All retailers and suppliers were informed of these changes coming into place from 2010 which gave them the opportunity to fully sell any stock without a CE mark prior to July.

"From July 4 it became illegal for any fireworks to be sold without a CE mark so when visiting local retailers our Trading Standards staff advised the sellers and removed all packs without the CE marks.

“Fireworks are not toys and it’s extremely important that customers are fully aware of what they are buying.

"The CE mark can be seen on both the fireworks box and on the fireworks themselves and provides some reassurance that rigorous testing of fireworks has been carried out.”