A Tynwald committee tasked with exploring the sale of fireworks to the general public has concluded there should not be a blanket ban.

The select committee on the Fireworks Act 2004, chaired by Daphne Caine (Garff), was formed after a public petition was presented on Tynwald Day last year by Judith Corrin.

Becoming the last motion moved by retiring MLC David Cretney earlier this year, the committee explored, among other issues, whether there should be a ban on fireworks being sold to the public.

In just under seven weeks, Mrs Corrin’s petition gained more than 800 signatures calling for either a ban on the sale of fireworks or limiting rural displays to ’quiet fireworks’.

However, the fire and rescue service had concerns over banning the on-island sale of fireworks. The service told the committee it is ’likely to have a limited effect and is likely to direct purchasers to non-locally regulated vendors on the internet or other sources’.

The committee also explored the issue of how the public is made aware of displays, the age at which people can buy fireworks and whether low-volume fireworks should be compulsory in rural areas.

Mrs Corrin keeps two horses and three donkeys at her property on Stoney Mountain Road. She told the committee that a private display in November 2019 left her animals traumatised.

She said how despite trying to get her animals into a barn and playing a loud radio, the fireworks left one horse ’dripping in sweat and panicked’ and a young donkey ’very upset’.

The committee’s report said: ’Fireworks can cause great distress for not only animals, but also people who may be afflicted by a form of post-traumatic stress disorder or people with certain types of autism. It is important that their needs are considered.’

It added: ’It would be a disproportionate and unnecessary measure to place a complete ban on the sale of fireworks to the general public.’

Other recommendations included greater guidance being given about setting off fireworks near animals, putting firework display notifications online and reducing the number of days around Bonfire Night fireworks can be set off.