Opinion: ALL fireworks should be low noise or silent

I always preferred the bonfire anyway. There’s something lovely about standing around a crackling community fire on a misty autumn evening, eating jacket potatoes and waving sparklers.

I don’t mind sparklers because they’re quiet. But fireworks are hellishly noisy - an anti-social menace - and I’d be happy to see them banned.

As is now the case with Halloween, Bonfire Night starts way too early. The fifth of November is still two weeks away, but expect a nightly cacophony of firework noise any time now. Either the ear-splitting, bone-shaking din of explosives that sounds like a war zone on your doorstep or the low level rumble of bangs from several miles away.

I woke up the other night to the sound of fireworks. It was nearly midnight and it went on for ages - setting off a symphony of barking from dogs on my street and surrounding houses.

What is this obsession with fireworks? Doesn’t the novelty wear off when you’re actually old enough to buy them? Of course kids have always been drawn to the illicit thrill of fireworks - I was a child of the Seventies when lads used to chuck bangers around, despite the rather graphic public information films showing us what would happen if one landed in someone’s face. But it was only ever on Bonfire Night, or maybe a couple of days either side of it as well.

Now there are fireworks all year round. The noise is terrifying for animals, not just domestic pets but wildlife and livestock too, and young children. A couple of years ago a huge stack of fireworks was set off on an inner city street in Bradford late at night and a family from Syria living nearby was left traumatised; the noise had triggered terrible memories and their children thought “the bombing had started again”.

If it was just organised displays one or two nights a year, the noise pollution could be bearable. But you never know when fireworks will go off next - even late on a Sunday in mid-summer. They’re a menace and it’s time there were tighter controls on the sale and use of them.

A review of firework use in Bradford, revealing the misery it causes, acknowledges that without changes to the law, tackling the issue could be impossible. The review, prompted by years of complaints about fireworks being set off in streets at all hours of day and night, was discussed this week by Bradford Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Committee.

The RSPCA wants fireworks banned, as it has seen far too many animals killed or having to be destroyed as a result of them. In the review the charity revealed that a Shetland Pony was so distressed by firework noise it ended up strangling itself. My neighbour has a dog that howls and shakes with fear whenever fireworks go off, and a friend lost her dog for hours one Bonfire Night when he ran away and managed to cross a motorway.

Suggestions for tackling fireworks include introducing ‘public space protection orders’ to prevent use in some areas, pushing for changes to the law nationally, and cracking down on places such as wedding venues that allow fireworks to be set off.

If the policing of firework use is going to be too tricky, surely the noise levels could be controlled. Low noise or ‘quiet firework’ displays are already held in places where loud noise is restricted or there’s livestock nearby. Wouldn’t it be great if all fireworks were low noise? Enjoy the spectacle if you must, but spare us the interminable din.