Otterburn and Ponteland firing times April 2026
Updated 27 March 2026
© Crown copyright 2026
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This publication is available at /government/publications/otterburn-firing-times/otterburn-and-ponteland-firing-times-december-2025
OTTERBURN TRAINING AREA
As seen in the Security Defence Review, the Army is at heightened readiness due to a new era of threat. This has placed greater demands on the Defence Training Estate (DTE) across the UK, which is being used for training more regularly and at shorter notice.
As such, the firing time notifications published on Gov.UK have been standardised to show the daily timings for when live-firing is permitted on the UK DTE. This is a change from the previous method of showing when training bookings had been made in advance.
This to ensure safety of all users, as it is not possible to change Gov.UK notifications at short notice. Broadly, the only guaranteed safe times for access are before or after the firing times provided on this page, however there may be exceptional circumstances where extensions have been requested.
If you wish to use the DTE for recreation, please always refer to onsite safety warning signals to understand if the site is safe to access before doing so.
Firing Times for April 2026:
These are the standard firing times subject to operation requirement extensions:
Otterburn Ranges:
| Monday: | 9am to 5pm |
| Tuesday: | 9am to 11:59pm |
| Wednesday: | 9am to 5pm |
| Thursday: | 9am to 11:59pm |
| Friday: | 9am to 5pm |
| Saturday: | 9am to 11:59pm |
| Sunday: | 9am to 5pm |
Ponteland Ranges:
| Monday: | 9am to 4:30pm |
| Tuesday: | 9am to 11:59pm |
| Wednesday: | 9am to 4:30pm |
| Thursday: | 9am to 11:59pm |
| Friday: | 9am to 4:30pm |
| Saturday: | 9am to 11:59pm |
| Sunday: | 9am to 4:30pm |
Site specific notes
Read more about North England – public access to military areas
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Firing takes place when roads are marked as ‘Closed’.
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There is no entry into the out of bounds area, which are controlled by locked/sentried gates and appropriately signed.
Contact us
For further information on the armed forces’ training at Otterburn, contact:
Range Control, UK Defence Training Estate, Otterburn Camp, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE19 1NX
Email Address: DIORDOSTrg-NOtterbMailbox@mod.gov.uk
Phone: 0191 239 4261