The National Campaign for Firework Safety commissioned a survey on the incidents and complaints reported in web based newspapers and other newspapers who have an archive facility available on the internet.  The full compilation, 'Read All About It 2001', is on view at the Campaign's website.

It shows that fireworks are now out of control all over the United Kingdom and at all times of the year.  No longer can it be assumed we have a Bonfire Night, restricted to Guy Fawkes night,  November 5th, or that we have a firework season restricted to three weeks before and three days after that day.  Fireworks are being sold and abused all year round.

The earliest case 'Front Door was set on fire' was dated 7th January and the last incident is 20th December when four fireworks were taped together and put into someone's letter box.

The abuse of fireworks continued throughout the year 2001,
January,  Benfleet, Essex, front door was set on fire by fireworks,
February, High Wycombe, fireworks thrown at someone's home,
May,  Welling, London, firework thrown into an eatery,
July,  Brighton, firework stuffed in a dog bin exploded,
August, Wiltshire, little dog terrified by fireworks,
September, Belfast, protesters threw fireworks,
October 3, Merseyside, firework embedded in church roof,
October 15,  fireworks go on sale
October 25, Worcester, 'Timebomb' tonne of fireworks in garage,
November 5,  Guy Fawkes night
November 8,  last day of sale of fireworks
November,  Accrington, a car, a phone box, and a takeaway destroyed,
December, Trafford, severely damaged car and house, by firework,

There were 182 incidents reported, separated into four categories of Arson (19), Complaint (27), Firework Danger (41), and Used as a Weapon (95),

Arson
These are examples where there is a possibility of Arson being committed, since some intent was shown.  9 houses and one bungalow were attacked.  One Church and a Church Hall were also targeted.  A garage, a workshop and a Yard were also hit.  A caravan, a pavilion and a school nursery were also attacked.  The only financial estimates given were a £50,000 blaze at a warehouse, and £1million pounds worth of aircraft at Southend.  In nearly all instances the Fire Brigade was called, some buildings however the Fire Brigade were unable to save.

Complaint
18 complaints were of 'Fireworks all hours of the day and night', 'heard at 2am', 'Fireworks for two months'.  The earliest complaint, was dated 17 July, and said they had suffered 'fireworks for the recent months'.  Four Complaints were made in August, of 'evenings and sleep destroyed', in Wiltshire and Worcestershire.  A complaint dated 5 September spoke of 'ten days of regular explosions', in Bradford, Yorkshire. A dog was injured and needed £1,000 worth of surgery, in Essex.
We have not included the many letters complaining of fireworks and their noise, but only those where a specific mention of the complaint was made.

Firework Danger
There were 41 instances of warnings by experienced persons, i.e. Fire-Fighters, Police, Surgeons etc, advising either to boycott fireworks or to go to a Professional Public Firework Display.  Included in this section are instances of defective fireworks, fireworks going astray.  Also included is the case of Rocky, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier whose fear of the noise fireworks made, was so great that he pulled his own face off.

Used as a weapon
There were 95 instances where fireworks were used as a weapon.
Targets such as
Animals,  2 cats, 5 dogs (2 died), 1 Guide dog, 2 horses, 1 kitten, 1 lamb (died).

Cars,  7 parked cars, 1 example of many thrown at passing cars.

People  1 Bus Driver, 2 Children, 1 Elderly Couple, 10 Fire Fighters, 11 People, 2     Policemen, 1 Soldier.

Buildings 2 Church Halls, 3 Flat, 27 Houses (17 via the letter box), 1 large Hut,
  1 Old People's Home, 1 Police Station, 7 Public House, 1 Restaurant,
  1 School, 17 Shops, 1 Takeaway, 1 Toilet, 1 Warehouse.

Others  1 Dog Bin, 1 Grid, 3 Phone Boxes, 5 Post Boxes,

The first recorded incident is on 1st February where a resident of High Wycombe had 'fireworks thrown at his home four times already this year', and the last was 20th December where 'Four fireworks taped together were dropped through an Ormskirk family's letter box'.

Findings
This survey has proved fireworks are available all year round and are abused all year round.  The months of March, April and June, had no reports of firework related incidents.

This survey shows only the tip of the fireworks iceberg, and includes only the incidents reported by the web-based newspapers and newspapers with archives available through the internet.  It shows only incidents regarded newsworthy by editors, others, including the death of Martin Lamparter in December 2001, were not.

Late News
The Consumer Minister announced in her statement of 1st March 2002, that '.. we secured agreement from the firework industry that fireworks would only be sold three weeks before 5 November and for a few days afterwards and for a similar period over the New Year'.
So in view of the Minister's statement, we hope that this is the last year when we have fireworks all year, and all the menace that goes with it.