Although we are now well over a week since Bonfire Night, it seems that Norwich City Council's Big Boom event is still causing a few fireworks.

It seems that the fallout from Norwich City Council's decision to spend money on their popular event is still ruffling a few feathers.

A reader's letter is just the latest example of criticism of a council spending large sums of money on such an event, and if you excuse the firework-related pun, it was this letter, and in particular comments on social media which really lit a fuse with me.

Both before and after the event, I frequently came across comments which damned the council for daring to spend such monies on the night, where instead they should be spending funds on improving various infrastructure or similar.

Whilst the council should always spend our money responsibility, I find it baffling how other readers, who most likely complain about never getting something for nothing, are in fact, complaining about an event which is exactly that — something for nothing!

As a child, I always remember my parents taking my brother and I out on Guy Fawkes Night, not always to an organised display, but instead, some years to the gates of a local event to save on paying the admission fee when times were more tough. The Big Boom therefore rightly helps and champions the everyday families in Norfolk, who work hard, don't complain, but sometimes just have a little bit too much month left at the end of their money.

To those who say that fireworks are quite literally just burning money, while this is literally true, it is also rather short sighted and ignores the important elements of community, history and culture that the night often brings.

Whilst my local town council of Thorpe St Andrew also put on a display a couple of days later, the community spirit that this invoked, as well as it's backing for local businesses simply cannot be ignored.

Those who, I suspect have too much time on their hands and therefore feel compelled to complain about the precise decibels of fireworks should instead concentrate their energies on pressuring the council to sort out managerial and backroom inefficacies to secure extra funds for infrastructure, rather than cancelling a popular city event.

As for Norwich City Council itself, they should be proud of the event they organised and the joy it brought to the many children and families when lighting up our Fine City.