ANIMAL lovers in Essex have backed an RSPCA call to ban loud fireworks being available to the general public.A report by the animal charity, called 'Quiet Please', concludes by saying fireworks which make a noise louder than 95 decibels should be outlawed because of the distress they can cause to animals.

ANIMAL lovers in Essex have backed an RSPCA call to ban loud fireworks being available to the general public.

A report by the animal charity, called 'Quiet Please', concludes by saying fireworks which make a noise louder than 95 decibels should be outlawed because of the distress they can cause to animals.

The move comes after the publication of a parliamentary bill to regulate the public use of fireworks, which is to receive its second reading later this month.

Yesterday Rosie Catford, who runs the Wildlives Animal Rescue Centre in Thorrington, said she strongly supported the RSPCA's call.

"In years gone by you knew there would be fireworks going off around November 5, but nowadays you hear them all year round.

"Animals here become a nightmare when fireworks are going off. They go into trauma mode.

"With dogs you can try and muffle it but we have got deer and foxes. They get very distressed. They go berserk with the bangs."

She added that she had encountered a number of firework-related injuries.

"It's normally animals who have become distressed and run blind into fences," she said.

Meanwhile Kevin and Iris Jordan, from Harwich Road, Colchester, said their labrador-collie cross Ziggy was so traumatised by fireworks she had been prescribed Valium by the vet.

"I personally like fireworks, but they should be on November 5 and that's it," said Iris yesterday.

"You hear them constantly round here from mid-October to mid-December. Ziggy is absolutely traumatised by them.

"She won't stop barking and she won't go out for a walk. It takes her weeks to recover afterwards."

The RSPCA report listed a number of injuries and deaths that had resulted directly from the noise of fireworks.

Rabbits can suffer fatal heart attacks if fireworks are set off in the near vicinity of their cages.

Some dogs vomit with fear and last year an 11-year old crossbreed was found with red raw feet after gnawing through a door and bolting to escape the sound of the bangs.

The animal charity wants to see fireworks that make noises louder than a road drill or a nightclub banned.

Chris Laurence, the RSCPA's chief veterinary officer, said: "As fireworks are used more and more the RSPCA believes urgent measures must be taken to stop distress and injury to animals.

"There is a voluntary ban on the fireworks industry louder than 120dB but suffering to animals would be reduced if these fireworks were sold only to professionals for public displays which should be organised according to strict guidelines."

n MP Bill Tynan's Control of Firework's Bill will receive its second hearing in Parliament on February 28.