Million-signature firework restrictions petition handed in to Downing Street

A petition with one million signatures calling for tighter firework restrictions has been delivered to Downing Street.

Campaigner Julie Doorne, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, launched her petition on Change.org in 2018 to call for an urgent review on firework rules to safeguard people, animals and pets from injury and distress.

The retired mother-of-five handed in her petition, which has more than 1,069,000 signatures, directly to Downing Street at 3pm on Tuesday, ahead of Bonfire Night.

She is calling for the private use of fireworks to be restricted to traditional dates, such as Guy Fawkes’ Night on November 5, New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali.

Ms Doorne is also calling for the maximum permitted decibels for fireworks to be reduced from 120 to 97, for all public firework displays to be licensed, and for packaging on fireworks to include information on noise level to allow for consumer choice.

Speaking to PA news agency ahead of handing in the petition, she said: “We need to get more awareness to let more people know what happens when they set off fireworks and the person on the receiving end has not been warned.

“It’s a whole raft of people, animals and wildlife that are affected.”

Ms Doorne said representatives from several charities, such as the RSPCA, Dogs Trust and Redwings Horse Sanctuary, would be attending her petition delivery on Tuesday in support.

Petitions with 100,000 signatures or more are considered for debate in Parliament, according to the Government’s website.

Ms Doorne hopes her appeal will be taken further and more awareness will be raised for her cause.

She said: “The Government say people are responsible and they use fireworks safely, and they may use them safely for themselves, but how can they say how safe it is for my horse?”

“How can they say it’s safe for the little girl down the road who has autism?

“It’s not safe for some people, it’s not safe for guide dogs, assistance dogs or other pets.”

Current laws allow people to purchase fireworks from registered sellers for private use between October 15 and November 10, December 26 to 31, and three days before Diwali and Chinese New Year, according to the Government’s website.

It is against the law for anyone to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except for on Bonfire Night when the cut off is midnight, and on New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1am.