Firework licences revoked until further notice

All firework licences have been revoked and no new firework licences will be issued until further notice, it emerged on Friday.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, a spokesperson for the mines and quarries service said the decision had been made given the recent hot and dry weather.

The decision comes after Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou had called on Thursday for the licences to be revoked, saying “all this cannot be done in these weather conditions. Where we can control it, it must stop.”

Panayiotou was reacting to a large fire which broke out on Wednesday in the Ha Potami area, near the village of Kouklia in the Paphos district.

The fire had been caused by the launching of fireworks by a 49-year-old man who had obtained the relevant licence beforehand. He was arrested.

The fire burned between four and five hectares of grassland and wild vegetation and took almost four hours to bring under control.