THE reality of playing with fireworks is all too horribly illustrated by our front page article on 11 year-old Michael Yewitt.

A firework he found on the ground exploded as he tried to light it, resulting in horrific burns to his hand. Michael is now in Booth Hall Hospital facing treatment for extensive burns.

He is the ninth local child to be treated for firework injuries in the run-up to Bonfire Night next week. This latest incident reinforces the danger of unsupervised fireworks, and their availability.

Police chiefs have revealed that children as young as nine are being sold fireworks by shopkeepers. And police also point to the number of firework-related assaults and criminal damage which has soared in the last month.

Increasingly, fireworks are used as missiles and a "weapon" of choice by the mindless. They are also frightening and upsetting for many local residents, especially the elderly.

More controls are urgently needed, and calls for banning the sale of fireworks to the public are becoming more urgent. Unfortunately, even though fireworks can be a source of great pleasure to people of all ages, they have become a worrying nuisance, and must be treated as such.