Firework plan 'not tough enough'

AN MP has called on a minister to bring in more restrictions on the sale of fireworks.

Speaking in the Commons, David Crausby, MP for Bolton North East, told Melanie Johnson, Under-Secretary for Trade and Industry, that Government proposals did not go far enough.

He said: "The menace caused by fireworks increases year on year. Will the minister consider legislation, not voluntary codes, to restrict severely the retail of fireworks?"

Melanie Johnson said they would have to see how effective the new measures were. "We are making air bombs illegal, introducing fixed-penalty notices, tackling the co-ordination of intelligence and encouraging councils to take steps," she said.

Many people thoroughly enjoy fireworks each year and we need to strike the right balance to be effective."

, which cause so much distress particularly to the elderly