Fireworks are on sale to the public two weeks before 5th November (Guy Fawkes Night) and two weeks before New Year's Eve. Fireworks on New Year's Eve have only been happening since the millennium. Organised displays can take place at any time of year - in Poole it's every Thursday evening on the quay or the beach throughout the summer for the tourists, plus anything other excuse they can think of.
In recent years the big display fireworks have been on sale to the public for 5th November and New Year, and air bombs (extremely loud) in particular are what the morons are buying and letting off at any time of the night in any place they choose. There's no legislation to stop them so for the last week and a bit my dog has been quivering, and our sleep has been interrupted several times during the night almost every night. My older brother was a high-up civil servant, and had a brief to cut down on injuries from fireworks. The "Firework Code" that's posted in shops was written by him. He was asked to draft a bill for parliament to help cut down on injuries, but of all his suggestions, he was told that the only one that stood any chance of being passed was the weakest - that organisers of firework displays should be trained to use them safely by the suppliers of the fireworks. Anything that restricted the use or sale wouldn't stand a chance. When a bill goes before parliament it's debated and there's a set time for the debate. If an MP chooses to talk for the whole of the time allocated for the debate and there isn't time for a vote, then the bill goes in the trash can. This is what happened - at least one MP had been lobbied by the firework importers (firewors aren't made in the UK) to talk the bill out because it would cost them money to train people and therefore cut down their profits. The problem of fireworks has become such that there is a bill coming soon, but how strong it will be, we don't know yet. There are already rules governing the storage of fireworks, but a few weeks ago three and a half tons of them, which are of course just explosives, were found in a lock-up garage in Bournemouth. The Thursday night display in Poole uses just less than one ton each week. So far the owner hasn't been traced. Jean in Poole To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
