Why do we have to suffer fireworks?

‘Man’s terror after youths throw firework at him as he walked through park’; ‘A boy was hit in the face with a firework after he and his friends were chased’; ‘Thugs push lit firework through shop letterbox while customers were inside.’

These, from different areas of the UK, are typical.

Just seeing fireworks on sale in the entrance to supermarkets is enough to send shudders down my spine. I usually hear the first big bangs of the season well before bonfire night, and generally continuing for days afterwards. This year, I heard my first volley of booms as I drove through a residential area in the early evening of October 21.

Thankfully, fireworks are not widely on sale all year round, but the period around Bonfire Night, the lead up to New Year, Diwali and Chinese New Year, is long enough to cause major annoyance to many people across the country.

By law you can’t buy fireworks if you’re under 18, and it’s against the law for anyone to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except on certain occasions.

These laws are widely ignored, with some neighbourhoods sounding like war zones in the lead up to November 5, with fireworks going off in the street almost every night. I particularly hate those crackling rockets that sound like windows breaking, and the loud boom of what feels like military grade explosives.

There are many advantages to organised firework displays

Today’s fireworks are certainly bigger and more powerful than they were when I was a child. Back then - when we went to the annual bonfire party at my friend’s farm - it was mostly about Catherine wheels and Roman candles. Gone are the days when your dad would light a rocket the size of a tube of toothpaste in a sand-filled milk bottle and quickly retreat for a few blink-and-you miss-it shimmers. Now rockets come in tubes bigger than a pack of Pringles and spew light half way to Venus. Suburban gardens host displays to rival London Eye at New Year.

Far worse, kids use fireworks as weapons to terrorise communities. Many people dread this time of year when youngsters take to the streets with an assortment of fireworks to try their hand at a spot of pyrotechnics. Despite the laws, kids manage to get hold of them by the bucketful. Who in their right mind would post a firework through a letterbox? Disturbingly, people do.

The availability of fireworks puts pressure on already stretched fire crews, who must dread this time of year. With drier weather, there’s the added threat of fires being ignited by airborne fireworks.

It's a particularly frightening time of year for pets. One of our cats used to cower under a duvet when it heard a firework. Wild creatures too, will experience fear and distress with the sudden noise and bright lights.

Many pets are terrified of fireworks

While it is only a minority who use fireworks irresponsibly, and at the risk of appearing a killjoy, it’s my belief that fireworks should be banned from public sale and only be allowed at organised events. I’ve been to some breathtaking firework displays, both with and without bonfires.

Public displays are safe. People living nearby know when and where they are is taking place so, if they have pets, they can prepare.

Many displays are free and for those that aren’t, the cost of buying fireworks would certainly be greater. At a public event you might get pie, peas and a slice of parkin thrown in. Everyone's happy.