FIREWORK displays are under threat from increasing red tape, it has been claimed.

Increasing amounts of health and safety legislation have led to spiralling costs as organisers must now carry out risk assessments and only professionals can set off fireworks.

Graham Drummond, president of the national Round Table, which organises events including Billericay's fireworks, said: "This bureaucracy is affecting many small-scale voluntary groups that do not have the capacity or time to jump through these hoops. They also cannot afford these extra costs."

Southend Round Table, which organises the Big Beach Bang on Shoebury East Beach each year, is facing stringent rules, making events difficult to organise.

Steve Castle, of the Southend branch of the Round Table, said five years ago members could set fireworks off themselves, but now had to pay professionals.

"It's costing more to put these things on anyway because less people supply fireworks so the price goes up. To get people to actually set them off, they have to go on courses. It seems every industry is now becoming more regulated," he said.

However, Mr Castle said the branch still expected to be putting on the annual spectacular for years to come - as long as there was no building work in Shoebury East Beach, as they had already been shifted from the Gunners Park site. John Lamb, councillor responsible for enterprise, tourism and regeneration, said risk assessments were necessary to ensure there was a proper fall out zone for fireworks.

He added: "Displays on the foreshore are properly controlled and set off from a barge so there is a good fall out area. It is essential to have a safety zone."