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Three years ago, Rhys Norman paid out of his own pocket to put on a fireworks display in Trethomas after the usual show at Caerphilly Castle was scrapped.

In the two years since, his company Art of Sparks’ display has been a huge success, attracting hundreds of spectators from across the area to the event on the Cornfield – just off Addison Way.

However this year, after initially stating there would be no display come November, BTM Community Council has now announced a different company will be organising the event.

Speaking to Caerphilly Observer about the situation, Rhys said: “These past two years the council has given us some money towards the display, which we’re grateful for, but always had to top-up ourselves.

“It came to June this year when I said to my business partner, Sean Smythe, that I’d message the council and pitch a pyro-musical show to really make it one to remember.

“The council then turned around to me and said they would not be putting any money towards the show, and that they would be sending me a list of reasons why.”

Rhys claims he never received that list from the community council, but accepted it and decided he would run the show anyway at the usual spot with hopes local businesses would donate towards costs.

He continued: “We were in the middle of making plans for the show in November when all of a sudden we see a post earlier this week saying the display will go ahead but with a London-based company carrying it out.

“The council has completely hijacked my display. I started this a few years ago to make the people of the village happy and I can’t believe it has come to this.”

In response to a stream of negative comments on social media, the community council released a statement explaining its position.

The council said it obtained “various quotes”, and that with a £5,000 budget, better offers were made by other companies in comparison to the Art of Sparks, which had asked for £4,000 “not including additional safety measures”.

Rhys said the £4,000 mentioned was for a more advanced firework display idea, as opposed to the ten-minute display they usually run.

He added: “The council has made us look really bad. We’ve never made a profit from any of these displays, and I was never asked what the best offer we could do on a ten-minute display.

“I’ve read the minutes from the council’s meeting in November last year stating the contract would have to go out to tender, but that never happened.

“For them to turn around and say they’ve found someone cheaper when we didn’t know they were going ahead was a shock. We never had a fair chance.”

The council added how it is continuing to look at the situation.

Asked about his plans now location will be occupied on Monday November 4, Rhys said: “We’re going to do it on our own like the first year.

“We’re not sure where exactly yet, but we’ll release an update soon.”