Loud fireworks stop guide dog users going out, says MP in call to limit sales
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Guide dog users “cannot go outside” when fireworks are going off, an MP has said. Sarah Owen brought forward proposals to block members of the public from buying fireworks louder than 90 decibels, as part of the Fireworks Bill, but MPs ran out of time on Friday to agree it in the Commons.
The Labour MP for Luton North said her private member’s Bill would target “nuisance, loud fireworks”. She told MPs: “This is having a detrimental impact on not just our environment, not just on people’s mental health, but also on education as well.
“And groups across Luton North and the country reported that this year was possibly the worst for fireworks in terms of the loudness, in terms of the frequency, and also in terms of the antisocial use of them, using them as almost a weapon in some communities.”.
Under existing rules, members of the public must not buy fireworks louder than 120 decibels. “Now I’m loud, but that is as loud as a rock concert, and any member of the public can go ahead and buy something that loud,” Ms Owen said. She added that the explosions were “particularly distressing in the middle of the night” for non-verbal autistic children and young people.
She said that, having spoken to some parents, “they did say that it’s the sporadic nature of these fireworks which is causing distress, where they cannot plan in advance, where they cannot prepare young people and neurodiverse people for this barrage of noise”.
