§ Mr. TynanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the number of injuries caused by fireworks during 2002. [118241]
1003W
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe total number of persons recorded as attending hospital casualty departments in Great Britain during the 2002 bonfire night period was 1,017. This represents a decrease of 25 per cent. on the 2001 total of 1,362. There were no deaths in the 2002 bonfire night period, nor are we aware of any outside the recording period.
Despite the welcome fall in recorded accidents, we continue to do all we can to promote safety and to prevent misuse of fireworks.
I am arranging for copies of the injury figures together with the analytical and regional tables to be placed in the Libraries of House as well as on the DTI website: www.dti.gov.uk