Campaigners outside No 10 Downing Street with petition (Image: Daily Express)
Campaigners have described how a review of fireworks laws will have a life-changing impact on vulnerable people and distressed animals.
Retired mother-of-five Julie Doorne handed her petition, which has more than 1,069,000 signatures, directly to Downing Street ahead of Bonfire Night.
She wants the private use of fireworks to be restricted to traditional dates, such as Guy Fawkes’ Night on November 5, New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali.
Ms Doorne is also calling for the maximum permitted decibels for fireworks to be reduced from 120 to 97, for all public firework displays to be licensed, and for packaging on fireworks to include information on noise level to allow for consumer choice.
Speaking outside No 10, she said it has been “a long time coming”.
Julie added: “This petition has been running for six years and this is just another step – it might be the beginning of the end, but it isn’t the end.
“We need to get more awareness to let more people know what happens when they set off fireworks and the person on the receiving end hasn’t been warned.
“It’s a whole raft of people, animals and wildlife that are affected.”
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Representatives from several charities, such as the RSPCA, Dogs Trust and Redwings Horse Sanctuary, joined the delivery of the petition.
Campaigners have said that fireworks have detrimental impacts on animals, children and people with mental health struggles, and petitions call for the use of silent fireworks and limits to organised displays.
Dr Neil Hudson MP said: “As a veterinary surgeon, I know more than most just how harmful fireworks can be to both kept and wild animals alike.
“Sadly the panic and distress it causes pets leads to detrimental health outcomes and even for them to go missing. Moreover, horses, cows, sheep and other animals in fields can startle and flee leading to injuries.
“And yet to humans too the impact can be profound. I’ve heard firsthand from some of our bravest veterans just how upsetting the loud noises can be to those who have experienced the devastation of war.
“Each year, it is also hard to ignore the injuries sustained from unsafe practices – particularly children who are then saddled for the rest of their life with painful burns, or awful face and eye injuries.”
Current laws allow people to purchase fireworks from registered sellers for private use between October 15 and November 10, December 26-31, and three days before Diwali and Chinese New Year, according to the Government’s website.
It is against the law for anyone to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except for on Bonfire Night when the cut-off is midnight, and on New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1am.
Ellie Phipps, policy and campaigns manager at Assistance Dogs UK, said: “We represent organisations that train assistance dogs for people across the UK and those people rely on highly trained dogs for day-to-day support for their independence.
“Around this time of year, those people are heavily impacted by the fireworks because for many of them, they’re autistic or they have PTSD, and those things frighten or cause stress for those people but for the animals as well, it means people are restricted from going out.
“There are disabled people who are unable to just go out and enjoy their evenings because of the fear of fireworks.
“It’s fine with the organised displays that they know are happening but it’s the random ones that go off that they’re not expecting that cause difficulty for the dogs and people.
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“It would be fantastic to see the government taking some action on this to support those people in due course.”
More than 2.6million people have signed a total of 880 petitions on Change.org calling for stricter firework regulations in the UK.
The British Fireworks Association represents the majority of manufacturers and importers of consumer fireworks.
Chairman Steve Raper said the organisation supported the “safe, respectful, and responsible use of fireworks” and “understood” the concerns of those “adversely affected” by “misuse”.
But limiting dates would have a “significant impact” on celebration periods for cultural events, while licensing public displays could deter organisers due to “time-consuming and expensive” procedures.
