Trick or treating may have been cancelled this year - but your little witches and werewolves can still enjoy a spooky Halloween...

Autumn is usually such a fun and busy period but sadly folk cannot celebrate in the same way this year with Lancashire currently in Tier 3 regulations.

This means traditional trick or treating isn’t allowed - no doubt locals will rise to the challenge of finding alternative ways to honour the terrifying traditions in your households; all LFRS asks is that you follow advice to keep your families and homes safe, and prevent extra pressure on our NHS and emergency services:

• Plastic capes and bin liners are often used as costumes – keep them away from candles or other naked flames.
• Use battery operated lights within homemade lanterns and pumpkins. Battery operated lights are much safer than candles.
• Take extra care with candles – they are extremely hazardous. If the candle tips over it could set light to materials such as costumes, curtains, clothes and furniture and start a serious fire. Make sure they are extinguished properly before leaving the house or going to bed and are placed where children and pets cannot knock them over.
• Costumes should comply with EN71 – a European-wide standard, which tests for flammability. It should also have a CE mark and be labelled as flame-resistant.
• In an emergency, cool any burns with water and call 999.
• If clothing does catch on fire remember to stop, drop and roll. And remember you can always call 999 and ask for the fire service if it is an emergency.

Alternative ways to have a haunted Halloween:

• Be creative: create a pumpkin trail where you live by putting one in your window so everyone can join in without knocking on doors.
• Be active: get dressed up and take a walk around your neighbourhood to see homes decorated for Halloween.
• Be virtual: consider an online party with decorations, fancy dress and themed food. Play Halloween games, bake Halloween treats or tell spooky stories.
• Be social: take pictures of your spooky costumes and activities to share on social media.
• Be colourful: dress up the outside of your house with Halloween decorations for you and your neighbours to enjoy.
• Be treat-wise: buy your own sweets to give to your children so they don’t miss out.

LFRS would also like to remind you about the importance of checking on your neighbours.

Halloween can be scary time for people, especially those that live alone. Even though trick or treating is not permitted this year people may still go out for an evening walk in their costumes to look at decorations in people’s windows, so please be respectful of your neighbours.

With darker nights and curtains drawn it is all too easy to forget about how someone is; you can also download this poster to let people know you don’t want visitors (or print a copy for someone who would benefit from displaying it).

LFRS are hosting a virtual Bonfire Night on Thursday 5 November at 6:30pm live from its Facebook page. It will involve a bonfire and fireworks display, tour of the fire engine and finish with a bedtime story by ‘Cloughy’ who many people know and love from the lockdown sessions; more information regarding this event nearer the time.

We’ll be sharing safety messages in the lead up to Halloween so be sure to follow us across all our social media channels. We also have a dedicated web page here. Please respect local and national lockdown measures and 'Let’s Do It For Lancashire.'