YORK residents should be able to sleep more easily over coming months, undisturbed by fireworks being let off by youths in local streets and back gardens.

Under new legislation, retailers wanting to sell fireworks outside the traditional run-up to Guy Fawkes Night and New Year's Eve need to apply for a special licence from their local authority.

City of York Council says that so far, not one single shop has bought such a licence.

In fact, there has not even been an expression of interest, according to a report to a meeting next Wednesday.

To deter retailers from making such an application in future, officers are recommending that a fee of £500 should be charged for every outlet wanting such a licence.

The report by principal trading standards officer Matt Boxall says that up until last January, retailers wanting to sell fireworks at any time of year only had to register with the local authority under the 1885 Explosives Act. Local authorities had no powers to refuse to register.

Mr Boxall said the Fireworks Regulations 2004 introduced a series of measures to tackle the nuisance caused by fireworks, including a ban on noisy ones and fireworks being set off in unsociable hours. The only times when licences were not now required to sell fireworks, apart from the traditional selling periods, were the first day of the Chinese New Year, the day of Diwali, and the three days leading up to those events.

Updated: 10:24 Thursday, January 06, 2005