ALL Bolton shops which sell fireworks could be given annual safety inspections.

Council environmental health chiefs are to push for the Greater Manchester Fire Service to carry out safety checks every year.

It is part of a series of measures concerning fireworks manufacture, storage and sale which will be presented to councillors at an environment and consumer sub committee meeting on Tuesday.

Councillors decided earlier this year not to ban the sale of fireworks in shops. But they asked council officers to prepare a report detailing various issues around firework safety.

And the report will urge the Government to ban the retail sale of fireworks.

The report also recommends that writing to the Health and Safety Executive to ensure more is done to check the safety of imported fireworks.

And it calls on the Government to endorse the "child spies" method of detecting unscrupulous shopkeepers who sell fireworks to children which has proved successful in recent years.

Environmental health chiefs are also considering setting up a "proof of age" scheme to help shopkeepers when selling fireworks to teenagers.

Concern

Councillors will also be asked to approve a decision for the council to write to the Trade and Industry Secretary expressing concern about the all year round availability of fireworks.

And they will call on the police to give as high a priority as possible to complaints about misuse of fireworks in the street.

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