A group of campaigners in Chigwell have called for restrictions on the use and sale of noisy fireworks.

Loud bangs endanger animals and are damaging to people with PTSD, they said, urging members of the public not to use fireworks louder than 97 decibels.

The group gathered in Chigwell Green near Brook Parade at 9am on Wednesday, November 3, to protest ahead of Bonfire Night this week.

It included Chigwell parish councillors Rochelle Hodds and Renu Phll, Epping Forest district councillor Deborah Barlow and campaigners Deborah Lawrence and Jo-Anne Alexander-Sefre.

Deborah Lawrence, an animal rights campaigner, said her personal opinion was that fireworks should be banned wholesale, but stressed the protest was strictly focused on the noisiest variants.

She said: “There’s so many things wrong with fireworks.

“You get these negative, ignorant people that don’t care about anything other than what they want.

“They say it’s a tradition – well I’m very sorry, we’ve had traditions in the past which have been terrible and have been wrong and are no longer traditions.

“We are supposed to be going forward as a civilisation, not backwards.”

According to the RSPCA, fireworks can cause severe stress to pets, wildlife and farm animals and can even result in the death of animals.

They have reported receiving 1,621 calls about the effect of fireworks on animals in the past five years.

MPs debated the banning of domestic fireworks in the House of Commons on November 8 after more than 300,000 people signed a petition which argued in favour of limiting their sale.

Currently, the Firework Regulations 2004 prohibits fireworks from being set off at any time between 11pm and 7am all year round, with the exception of Bonfire Night, when the curfew begins at midnight, and on New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali, when it starts at 1am.

In recent years, British Fireworks Association members have introduced a traffic light system, making it easier for customers to identify which fireworks are louder or quieter.

Sainsbury’s announced this year it would not be selling fireworks in its UK stores ahead of Bonfire Night.