A petition with one million signatures calling for tighter restrictions on fireworks has been sent to Downing Street.

Activist Julie Doorne, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, launched her Change.org petition in 2018 to call for an urgent review of fireworks rules to protect people, animals and pets from injury and suffering.

The retired mother-of-five handed her petition, which has more than 1,069,000 signatures, directly to Downing Street at 3pm on Tuesday ahead of Bonfire Night.

It calls for the private use of fireworks to be restricted to traditional gatherings such as Guy Fawkes Night on November 5, New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali.

Ms Doorne is also calling for the maximum decibels allowed for fireworks to be reduced from 120 to 97, for all public fireworks displays to be licensed and for fireworks packaging to include noise level information to allow consumers to choose.

Speaking to the PA news agency before launching the petition, she said: ‘We need to raise awareness to let more people know what happens when fireworks go off and the person on the receiving end has not been warned.

“It’s a lot of people, animals and wildlife that are affected.”

Ms Doorne said representatives from several charities, such as the RSPCA, Dogs Trust and Redwings Horse Sanctuary, would attend to deliver her petition in support on Tuesday.

Petitions with 100,000 signatures or more are considered for debate in Parliament, according to the Government’s website.

Ms Doorne hopes her appeal will be taken further and awareness of her cause will be raised.

She said: “The government says people are responsible and use fireworks safely and can use them safely for themselves, but how can I tell how safe it is for my horse?”

“How can I say it’s safe for the little girl down the road who has autism?

“It’s not safe for some people, it’s not safe for guide dogs, assistance dogs or other pets.”

Current laws allow people to buy fireworks from registered sellers for private use from October 15 to November 10, December 26 to 31 and three days before Diwali and Chinese New Year, according to the government’s website.

It is against the law for anyone to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except on Bonfire Night, when it ends at midnight, and on New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when it ends at 1am.