CAMPAIGNERS on Teesside have vowed to keep on the pressure for tougher anti-fireworks laws.

The authorities hailed a multi-agency crackdown on the misuse of fireworks using new laws a success.

But campaigners in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough said new legislation failed to make a difference to anti-social behaviour using fireworks.

They want all fireworks banned apart from those used in council-organised displays and cite the case of a teenage boy in Grangetown whose thumb was blown off by a firework, as evidence that more needs to be done.

They have won partial backing from the RSPCA who are also campaigning for tougher laws. A spokesman for the charity said the number of complaints from the North-East and Yorkshire actually increased from 19 last year to 34 this year. That was despite new legislation which bans the use of fireworks after 11am and forbids under-18s from being in possession of fireworks. On-the-spot fines of £80 can be issued against those breaking the new laws.

An RSPCA spokesman said: "We don't want a whole ban but the fact is a member of the public can buy a firework which makes a noise of 120 decibels. That's the same as a jumbo jet taking off and can badly frighten animals. We think that should be reduced to 95 decibels."

Charlie Bantoft, 66, of Prissick Street in Hartlepool, said he knew of pensioners who had been too frightened to leave their homes for four days because of the fireworks. He also said he had been forced to have his dog sedated and planned to raise a petition of 50,000 names calling for tougher laws.

He said: "The days of the penny bangers are long gone. What they have today are serious explosives and they should be banned."

Pearl Hall, a shopkeeper in South Bank, has long campaigned for a ban and had youngsters throwing fire crackers at her door this year.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said just one £80 on-the-spot fine had been issued this year in Hartlepool.

However in a joint statement police, Cleveland Fire Brigade, Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and housing providers said this year's clampdown had been a success.

A 24-hour phone line in east Cleveland dealt with dozens of calls with information on firework incidents and bonfires.

Information from the 65 calls - 22 relating to fireworks and 43 to illegal or dangerous bonfire building - were directed through council's CCTV control room and forwarded to the appropriate service.