To be delighted that Sainsbury’s have decided not to sell fireworks this year?

[AlternativePerspective]

Now just hoping the other supermarkets follow in due course.

About time!

My closest display is £10 for adults/kids over 11 however I get put off more by the fact 50k people attend, so much congestion & queuing.

Watch from a distance or go to another one

@familycourtq

They’re antisocial and very few people use them responsibly
Utter bollocks
No, it's not bollocks!

I'm from Sussex and we have bonfire every sat night from the first Saturday in September to late November. All events are organised properly, well advertised in the area. Its brilliant.

I hate fuckwits who let off fireworks in their back gardens, they cost a fortune and look like shit

@PrincessRaven Do you know Battersea Park well?

Diwali’s not for another 2 weeks...

Also, I’m very very sure the kids setting off fireworks in the park last night and today won’t be celebrating Diwali anyway.

I love them, DD hates the bangs and one year we couldn't find one of our cats. We eventually found her sitting on the window sill in a bedroom watching next doors fireworks and purring very loudly

go to another one

Please tell me where all these London firework displays are that don't attract thousands of people? When I was a kid I could go to 3 local parks close to me for displays.

@snottysystem no, not at all, but you're saying that it's the only one in the area, and you have to go to that one? Cant you watch from somewhere?

They’re antisocial and very few people use them responsibly

I agree with this and with the point that modern fireworks are far too loud for most gardens.

There should be stricter rules around setting off fireworks

• within distance of neighbouring houses
• within restricted hours on very restricted days
• under a certain sound level

No one needs to make a residential street sound like a war zone.

Good. And for those who are whining about it, please read this post

I had a lit rocket put through my window which landed next to me, I had seconds to get out and it exploded, damaging the wall, table and carpet. Who had to pay? Not the people who put it through. It's open plan so I needed carpet for the entire room

This year the local shop had a firework thrown in, as did the nursing home. A female had one thrown in her car which landed next to her baby as she was getting them out the car seat. Another female had one thrown in her face. They've also been targeting animals and peoples houses. We have spent weeks cowering inside our own homes as they start at 6pm and carry on all night, unable to open windows, not going outside and dreading bonfire night

These are kids, not adults that are doing this and the thought of bonfire night is already making me feel sick. I plan to not have any lights on so they can't see I'm in which will hopefully avoid my house being a target

Oh and my cat doesn't give a shit but I did when he was sat next to me as the rocket was thrown in

Cant you watch from somewhere?

I guess Chelsea Embankment but standing by a very busy main road next to the Thames with a toddler & 5 yr old is not practical & parking/public transport would be pain due to Battersea congestion.

That is the local one to me now due to councils no longer wanting to pay for them. Lambeth isn't even doing one this yr so that probably leaves 4 local authority ones to cater for 1.5 mill plus people in SW London. Hopefully some neighbours will set them off so I can watch those.

When I was a kid I could go to 3 local parks close to me for displays.

I was & born & raised in London & live where I grew up, so the 3 local displays were actually local then.

The stricter rules are a nice idea, but they'd change nothing. The people concerned won't care, and the police have no time or capacity to be enforcing those rules. There are instructions on fireworks about the space needed to set them off. No one in my area - where the gardens are tiny and houses are closely crowded - takes the slightest notice of them. They want to set them off so they do.

Really pleased with Sainsburys for doing this.

@snottysystem Yeah, hopefully some of your neighbours will behave anti-socially, potentially frightening a neighbourhood full of the elderly, vulnerable, animals etc., so that you don’t miss the chance to see some fireworks. Heaven forbid.

OP, totally agree. Organised displays only. You never know, if sale of them is banned there might be more demand for organised ones, once more. But if not I’m sure we’ll all find a way to cope.

Yeah, hopefully some of your neighbours will behave anti-socially, potentially frightening a neighbourhood full of the elderly, vulnerable, animals etc., so that you don’t miss the chance to see some fireworks

My neighbours have been celebrating diwali for years & plenty have had bonfire night ones in the past too, I normally attend them.

Bravo Sainsbury!

Brilliant! They should be banned.
People around me do fireworks all year around, sometimes at 11 or 2, in the middle of the night. Sick of being woken up.

I’m sure selling fireworks is a massive hassle for them. They have to keep them safe and secure. Find the space for them. A member of staff has to man the stall if there’s one in the store, someone else has to get the customers order. Then there’s having to ID people. I’m sure it can’t bring any profit in for them if any.
I can’t stand fireworks unless it’s a professional display. People let the fuckers off two weeks before and sporadically until after new year 🙄

The stricter rules are a nice idea, but they'd change nothing

Thinking about it that's probably true. After all quiet non-bang fireworks are available but people never seem to choose those so presumably the disturbance and impact on others is part of the 'fun'.

Well, as teenagers were setting them off and throwing them last night where I live, i’m glad they aren’t selling them! A young lad also had one thrown at him a few weeks ago and is currently in hospital needing skin grafts. I like to look at them but they should only be at organised displays used by people trained to use them safely.

I'm going to a display this year that is called a 'low bang' firework display, specifically aimed for children/families so they can enjoy the fireworks but not be frightened of the noise. It's a shame not more of these exist.

I am adding this to my collection of things I have seen in the last month that people want entirely banned for others:-
Alcohol
Sugar
Meat
Flying
Owning a car.

As Sir Toby said to Malvolio, ‘ Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous/ There shall be no more cakes and ale?’

Puritanism is raising its ugly head again. As someone else said, there is no end to the pleasure felt in banning pleasure for others.

And, no, I am not keen on private fireworks myself.

I think what a lot of people fail to grasp is how much damage fireworks can cause. We are farmers and four years ago saw thousands of bales of straw and a building go up because of a firework. It's mindless terror for animals, it's littering and in what other context is it acceptable to send flaming vessels into the night to set fire to whatever they wish.

I'm not an advocate for "banning" stuff randomly, but fireworks have absolutely no business being sold to the general public.

Yes I agree OP - great news. Hope other retailers follow suit - really we need to ban the private sale of fireworks (except maybe sparklers) and only have organised displays.