IT must be time that the authorities insisted on licensed firework displays, especially as the casualties start to mount.

I was brought up on backyard fireworks, black peas and treacle toffee on November 5. No 'trick or treat'. No percussive blasts. Our Guy made of dad's old clothes, a bonfire made of neighbours' old furniture, and our trouser legs tucked inside our wellies. Sparklers were shoved into flowerbeds when they fizzled out.

We went to sleep with sparkles in our eyes, not damage to our eardrums and merciless merchandising on our minds.

ELTON DAVE