I should like to present an important petition, organised by Faye Guyat, that addresses the issue of the nuisance and real harm caused to people and animals by the antisocial and selfish use of fireworks. Although a sound private Member’s Bill on the subject became law in 2003, improvements can still be made, and there are still real problems in our community. I congratulate and thank every person who signed the petition. It states:

The Petition of residents of Castle Point and others,

Declares that freely available fireworks present danger and nuisance to people, property and animals and we believe that the suffering fireworks cause and the cost to emergency services and individuals are totally avoidable; whilst we believe this, we do not wish to prevent the enjoyment of traditional festivals—and therefore we urge the Government to amend the firework bill.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to restrict fireworks to licensed organised displays only at fixed times of the year, to include garden parties in the restricted category, to reduce the decibel limit to a maximum of 85db for all fireworks and to make it illegal to use or posses fireworks without a licence.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.

[P000115]