From 1 April 2010 the number of locations where yachtsmen can dispose of ‘time-expired pyrotechnics’ will reduce to just 18, and the collection and disposal contract has been awarded to a private company.

The MCA, with the assistance of the Department for
Transport, will continue to accept TEPs from the public; however the collection
and disposal service will no longer be undertaken by the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) with effect from the 31 March 2010 because of their operational
pressures.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has awarded a new
contract to undertake the collection and disposal of Time Expired Pyrotechnics
(TEPs) from its premises. The new contracted service will be phased in from
December 2009 with Ramora UK Ltd of Portsmouth. (www.ramorauk.com)

Following recent changes of legislation with regard to the
storage and transportation of explosives, MCA premises now require to be
brought into line with those changes. This will mean that the number of sites
which will be able to accept TEPs will be significantly reduced.

The Agency plan to achieve this by concentrating available
resources on 18 sites evenly spaced across the country. Analysis of the
quantities of TEPs deposited with the MCA indicate that up to 70 per cent of items find
their way to the vicinity of the 18 proposed sites which will accept TEPs.

The following sites have therefore been identified:

Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres at

Shetland

Stornoway

Belfast

Liverpool

Holyhead

Milford

Falmouth

Brixham

Solent

Dover

Thames

Humber

Forth

Inverness Sector Base

North Norfolk Sector Base

Cruden Bay Coastguard Rescue Office

Girvan Coastguard Rescue Office

A location at Poole

Douglas MacDonald, Head of Environment and Emergency
Response Standards, said ‘These 18 locations, spaced evenly across the country
have been chosen because we believe that they will meet the majority of the
public demand and are reasonably accessible. Unfortunately not all sites are
manned 24 hours, but full details of locations, contact details and opening
times will be posted on our web site www.mcga.gov.uk as the new service is
rolled out. We are also asking the public not to take TEPS to police stations
as they have no storage facilities for these items.’