The changes proposed to the law on fireworks are welcome as far as they go. Unfortunately, though, they don't go far enough. The fireworks situation has got too far out of hand to be made acceptable again by merely tightening up the rules.

A ban on the possession of fireworks by people under 18, restrictions on the hours during which they can be let off and a limit to the decibels they emit are all well and good. However, they would not put a stop to the horrendous run of incidents which took place in Bradford on Bonfire Night.

An elderly blind woman and her guide dog were targeted by thugs who shot fireworks at them. Damage estimated at £1,000 was deliberately caused to a van. And perhaps most worrying of all, £25,000 of fireworks was snatched from a Bradford shop, suggesting that these are now attractive to the criminal fraternity.

Incidents like these strengthen the case of those who are calling for fireworks to be taken off the street completely and limited to licensed displays operated by qualified experts - a measure which certainly would be easier to police than the collection of qualifying restrictions in the Government's new measures.

A total ban would be hard on those families with responsible parents who take great care during their Bonfire Night displays, but too many people are being maimed and injured by powerful fireworks which are increasingly being used as weapons.

More radical action is called for than the Government's well-meant new measures. Let's hope that Bradford MP Gerry Sutcliffe, whose ministerial responsibilities now include fireworks, is sympathetic to that view.