JIM Ruck gets my full support for the campaign to ban fireworks.

I feel that fireworks should be confined to November 5 only, with an exception for special organised displays that are advertised in the Press.

All other private displays should be banned completely. They seem to last up to two weeks either side of the traditional firework night and are getting worse every year.

Dog and pet owners would be able to make reasonable arrangements for their pets' wellbeing, if they knew when and where the displays were to be held.

My wife and I used to dread November 5 approaching each year, as we had a dog that was so afraid of fireworks that she made herself ill every year and needed veterinary treatment for her nerves, even if the fireworks were let off up to a mile away. - Geoff Scott, Darlington.

A FIREWORK is an explosive which "loving" parents are quite happy for their children to buy and play with.

Why not just give them a stick of dynamite and have done?

They put a sparkler in their hands and let it burn at approaching 1,000 degrees.

They keep boxes of these explosives in their homes ready for the day.

We celebrate a terrorist (Guy Fawkes) on November 5 or any other date you care to mention (what does a Sunday lunchtime in the middle of January have to do with Guy Fawkes?).

I am not against people enjoying fireworks; I admit some are quite colourful, but please let common sense prevail and limit them to organised displays with qualified pyrotechnicians. - Name and address supplied.

THE shopkeepers of Darlington could very easily impose their own ban on the sale of fireworks. But, as in the sale of alcohol to minors, profit is the name of the game.

The policing of anywhere but the town centre is almost non-existent. Let us have a total but voluntary ban on fireworks, except for one week before November 5. - Tom Nicholson, Darlington.

STREET LITTER

I READ with interest letters regarding the deplorable state of the town's streets, litter, tin cans, plastic bottles and takeaway containers creating such a deplorable condition for the town we live in.

The council does its best by engaging a workforce to clean up the mess that we, Joe Public, creates, and we must remember we eventually pay for this cleaning through our community tax. It does not come free.

In past times, we used to be proud of the street we lived in, and showed it by cleaning up, sweeping and generally doing our own little bit in front of our own properties. But this is not the case today.

One piece of litter can lie outside one's property for days and we feel too proud, or it is beneath us, to pick it up.

Come on everyone, unite. Do your bit and be proud of where we live. We are proud of our interiors, let us be proud of the exteriors also. - D Reed, Darlington.

CHARITY COLLECTIONS

DARLINGTON Lions Club would like to thank the people of Darlington and district for their most generous donations to last year's Christmas collections for local charities.

With the marvellous support from the stores of Wm Morrisons, North Road and Morton Park and Safeway, Victoria Road and Cockerton, a magnificent total donation of over £3,200 was collected.

This allowed more than 200 substantial hampers to be distributed to Darlington and district beneficiaries recommended by local organisations, including Age Concern, Town Mission and local churches.

This activity can only be carried out with the support of the stores and the generosity of their customers, which is greatly appreciated by the Lions. - John Clulee, publicity officer, Darlington Lions Club