MPs will debate whether members of the public should be banned from buying fireworks.
Under current laws, adults are able to purchase all but the strongest “category four” fireworks, which can only be used at professional displays.
But Parliament will debate on Monday whether the public should be barred from buying fireworks all together after nearly 300,000 people signed a petition calling for displays to be limited to those at licensed venues.
“Every year fireworks are set off unnecessarily,” the petition read, calling them a “nuisance to the public”.
“They scare animals, young children and people with a phobia,” it continued, adding: “They injure thousands of people every year.”
The campaign comes after a homeless Army veteran was injured on Bonfire Night when a youth allegedly put a firework in his pocket. Video also emerged of fireworks being thrown at police officers in London in a separate incident.
The RSPCA has launched its own campaign for firework regulations to be reviewed, demanding that all public displays must be licensed and calling for the noise level of private-use fireworks to be lowered.
Holly Baker, campaign manager at the animal charity, said the RSPCA’s emergency line has been “inundated with hundreds of calls from pet owners concerned about their terrified animals during the fireworks”.
“This is totally avoidable, and the UK government need to step up and act to prevent any further animal suffering.”
But in a written response to the petition, the government said it had “no plans to ban private sales” of fireworks, arguing that laws are already in place to “control their sale, use and misuse”.
“We believe that the best way to continue to reduce any distress caused by fireworks is to work with industry, retailers and others to promote their safe and responsible use through guidance and public education and to ensure that appropriate action is taken against those that break the rules.”
Vice-chairman of the British Fireworks Association Steve Raper echoed the government’s response, saying the industry is “already extremely heavily regulated”.
“We are told what we can sell, who we can sell it to and when we can sell it,” he said. “There is an element of anti-social use, but that happens no matter what the product – cars, motorcycles, dogs and knives are all legal items that can be used by an anti-social minority.”
Instead of a ban, there must be greater education about how to use fireworks safely and stricter enforcement of existing laws, Raper said.
“If we can get rid of the hooligan element, there would be no need to consider restricting the millions of responsible users,” he added.