Veterans angered by fireworks farce

Jul 3 2007 By David Bell, Birmingham Mail

A FIREWORKS extravaganza for hundreds of armed forces veterans turned into a damp squib when it was called off at the last minute by a Birmingham city centre hotel.

Instead of seeing stars from £7,000 worth of rockets, veterans saw red and claimed today they had been badly let down.

After working for seven hours to instal the display on the roof of the Hyatt Regency in Broad Street on Sunday, fireworks experts were sent packing by hotel staff minutes before blast off.

Nearly 50 kg of live explosive fireworks were then carried back through the hotel and will have to be disposed of.

Gerald Rose, the national chairman of the National Service Veterans said today: "It was bitterly disappointing. This show was built up for months as a big thing.

"Hundreds of us were outside the International Convention Centre to watch. But we got a very poor show lasting only a couple of minutes."

Kevin Brown, the council's head of events, confirmed today that 75 per cent of the display was to have been fired from the top of the Hyatt until it was called off by the hotel at the last minute.

"We had met up with the Hyatt - which we have used for fireworks before - and agreed the principles. What happened was ludicrous and laughable.

"It was safer to have let the fireworks off than carry them back through the building," he said.

Hyatt general manager Phillipe Roux Dessarps said the fireworks show had been called off for the safety and security of his hotel guests.

"We had not given approval for the fireworks to happen. The contractors had been given access to the roof to set up the display and I am investigating how and why this happened."