I am calling on the UK government to take the bang out of fireworks by banning rockets and bangers.  These items exist solely to produce as loud a bang as possible - up to 120 decibels, much louder than garden machinery and power tools. Rockets fly high through the air and explode hundreds of yards away over someone else's home, bangers are simply bombs designed to surprise and terrify anyone nearby.

These flying missiles and bombs are unlike regular fireworks in that there are no pretty colours or sparkles etc. They go off without any warning and terrify neighbours and anyone in the street at that time, elderly people, veterans, people of a nervous disposition, animals (especially horses, dogs and cats) and wildlife. It would be a simple step to ban them from sale to the public and organised displays if they are near homes, and would go some way towards mitigating the effect of fireworks at this time of year.

Horses in fields are the worst affected as they cannot escape, they will gallop away in fear and could harm themselves. Unlike dogs they cannot be kept indoors, a stable is considered by many to be unsafe as it is a confined space. I was personally affected at the weekend when there were three days of almost constant explosions over the fields near where I keep my horses. The bangs were coming from nearby homes but it was impossible to determine exactly where, though I did try to find out.

Explosions started at about 5pm as it is dark at that time now, a rocket exploded over the horses' shelter as they were feeding, they galloped off in panic, it caused me to scream in terror. Others followed over the weekend. The following day I felt a bit dizzy. I saw a doctor on Monday who diagnosed stress and shock, probably caused by the explosions. She said they can cause permanent damage to the eardrums, luckily mine was only temporary. But it has left me with anxiety and a fear of being out after dark.

Many people are still outside at 5pm, either shopping, walking, coming home from work or feeding animals. That's when the explosions start in private gardens and elsewhere and continue throughout the evening. We still have Christmas and New Year to come when there will be more fireworks. I therefore call on the UK government to ban rockets and bangers as they are the most disruptive of fireworks and cause the most harm to people, animals and wildlife. 

Everyone has a right to peace in their life, we are not at war and should not have to suffer sudden deafening explosions overhead, which continue without warning for several weeks at a time.