UK Fireworks Consultation - Protect the Wild

TAKE ACTION: Ban the public sale of fireworks

The government is consulting on proposed changes to fireworks legislation amid growing concern about their impact on community safety, vulnerable people and animals—reflected in public complaints, parliamentary debates and petitions calling for tighter controls

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Dear Sir/Madam,

I am responding as a member of the public. These responses reflect my own views.

Question 1: The public should not be allowed to purchase or use any F2 and F3 fireworks. F2 and F3 fireworks should not be available for public purchase or use at all. I believe the sale of these categories to the general public should end entirely, with fireworks permitted only at licensed, professionally run displays. I therefore answer this question on the understanding that my preferred outcome is the removal of all F2 and F3 fireworks from general sale, not merely the addition of selected products to a banned list.

Question 2: My position is that the welfare of animals and wildlife must outweigh commercial considerations. Fireworks cause serious and well-documented harm to wildlife, companion animals and farm animals. Panic, injury, abandonment of nests and young, and death are documented. On top of this, there is a growing risk of fire in hot, dry conditions. In July alone, the Dovestone moor fire was caused by fireworks, as well as a fire at Churchtown Nature Reserve in Saltash. Fireworks are also believed to be the reason a blaze broke out in Nothe, Weymouth. I recognise that adding products to the banned list, and ultimately ending the public sale of F2 and F3 fireworks, would affect retailers and importers. But this is a commercial and convenience cost, and in my view it is clearly outweighed by the animal-welfare, public-safety and environmental benefits of restriction. The other consequences are largely positive. Consumers would still enjoy fireworks at professionally run displays; licensed professional operators would be unaffected; and enforcement would in fact become simpler, as a clear restriction on public sale is easier to police than the current fine distinctions between permitted and prohibited products. Any blackmarket risk is an argument for strong penalties and enforcement, not for maintaining unrestricted sale. The only significant downside falls on commercial sales, while wildlife and the environment benefit.

Question 3: Agree. Multi-shot fireworks are among the most harmful to animals and wildlife: from a single ignition they produce a prolonged barrage of loud, sudden explosions. This is exactly the sustained, unpredictable noise that causes panic, injury, and the abandonment of nests and young in companion animals, livestock and wildlife. Their power and duration make them wholly unsuitable for private use, and making the ban explicit removes any ambiguity for enforcement. I maintain that this amendment does not go far enough: all F2 and F3 fireworks should be removed from public sale, leaving fireworks to licensed professional displays.

Question 4: Neither agree nor disagree - The minor 'snap' mechanism in a Christmas cracker poses none of the dangers to wildlife that F2 and F3 fireworks do.

Question 5: My concern is with the loud, powerful and aerial F2 and F3 fireworks that cause the most serious harm to wildlife. One point on F1 and P1 products concerns noise, which is the principal cause of distress to animals. Where any F1 or P1 item can produce a sudden, sharp bang loud enough to distress animals, I would support a strict maximum noise limit. I see no welfare grounds to restrict genuinely silent or low-noise novelty products, and would encourage regulation to favour such quiet alternatives wherever possible.

Question 6: Yes, to 90 dB (A,imp) (reducing perceived loudness by approximately seveneights)

Question 7: F2 and F3 fireworks should not be sold for public use at all, with fireworks reserved for licensed professional displays. I answer this question on that basis. Because sudden loud noise is the primary driver of firework-related harm, lowering the decibel limit of all fireworks would bring significant benefits. It would result in reduced distress, panic and injury among wild animals, companion animals and farm animals; less bolting and self-injury in horses; and less disturbance to birds, who are too often startled from roosts or abandon their nests.

Question 8: F2 and F3 fireworks should not be sold for public use at all, with fireworks reserved for licensed professional displays. I answer this question on that basis. Any negative impacts of a lower decibel limit would be minor and clearly outweighed by the welfare and safety benefits. Some products may need reformulating to meet a lower limit - a manageable commercial adjustment, helped by an adequate lead-in period. Verifying products against a new threshold carries some administrative cost, but a clear numerical limit is straightforward to test and enforce.

Question 9: 12 months - I do not claim detailed insight into manufacturers' and retailers' operational timelines. My position is that businesses should be given a fair and reasonable period to adjust, to reformulate products, sell through existing compliant stock, and adapt their ranges, but that this must be balanced against the urgency of reducing the harm fireworks cause to wildlife.

Question 10: When setting a lead-in time, I believe that the overriding consideration must be the welfare of wildlife. Every firework season that passes under the old rules means further avoidable distress, injury and risk. The lead-in should therefore be no longer than genuinely necessary.

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TAKE ACTION: Ban the public sale of fireworks

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