Without wishing to be a kill joy may I through your page express my concern at the use of fireworks.

I appreciate that bonfire night gives a lot of pleasure to a lot of people and if confined to the one night if fine as we could make sure our pets were kept in. Unfortunately, particularly this year, it seems to have stretched to well over a week.

We had fireworks well before the 5th, the Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights had prolonged firework displays and even since then there have been the odd cluster of bangs each evening. I am now the owner of 3 paranoid cats who creep round the house each evening after dark and spend hours hiding. There have been reports of numerous lost dogs frightened into running away by fireworks.

Is it perhaps time that some sort of voluntary regulation was brought into being limiting the days on which fireworks are used?

Sue Gooderham, Abbey Croft, Pershore, Worcs.(via e-mail).