AS we approach Bonfire Night the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is making a plea to those readers planning to hold fireworks' parties - think!

Every year guide dogs and other assistance dogs are forced to retire after being traumatised by the irresponsible use of fireworks.

Many others have to be sedated, and some even retrained, leaving their owners without mobility for weeks at a time.

When a working dog has to be retired, this signals the end of an extraordinary partnership, shattering a visually impaired person's independence, which has taken many months and years to develop. The financial costs to the charity and personal cost to the owner are huge.

We're not kill-joys and want people to have the freedom to enjoy fireworks. But at the same time, we want to encourage people to think about the loss of independence faced by blind and partially-sighted people if their guide dogs are traumatised by sudden loud bangs. That's why we're reminding readers of the new Fireworks Act which makes it an offence to:

Let fireworks off between 11pm and 7am.

Sell fireworks that are louder than 120 decibels.

Possess fireworks in a public place if you are under-18.

The good news for partygoers is that on Bonfire Night, the curfew will begin an hour later, at midnight. The bad news, people who break the curfew could receive an on-the-spot fine of £80.

Please support our appeal. We don't want to ruin people's fun, but we don't want people's lives ruined either.

TOM PEY, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Hillfields, Burghfield Common, Reading RG7 3YG.