EAST Lancashire MPs today said "enough is enough" and demanded action to halt the carnage caused by highly explosive commercial fireworks.

The move comes after one death and a series of dangerous explosions throughout the area in the last six months.

They are calling for regulations to be tightened to prevent rogue traders selling on the fireworks and to ensure that records are kept of how many are imported and who has them.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice was due to call for a special debate in Parliament on the issue -- using a copy of a Lancashire Evening Telegraph opinion column to back his call to House of Commons leader Margaret Beckett.

His call for action has been backed by Hyndburn's Greg Pope and Burnley MP Peter Pike -- whose constituencies have been hit hard by a spate of incidents labelled among the worst in the country by firefighters.

The worst incident came in Burnley after 18-year-old Paul Ridge was killed by a commercial firework in the Duke Bar area last October.

His death came the day after Trading Standards Officers investigating the possibility illegal import of similar devices had warned about the danger of private use of commercial fireworks.

Other incidents in recent months have included:

February 24: Phone box in Queens Road West, Accrington, blown up.

February 21: An Escort van was blown up in Plumbe Street, Burnley -- sending debris through the window of a house. A grit box nearby was also blown up. February 20: Two cars in Accrington were destroyed by fireworks within 30 minutes of each other.

February 14: The roof was blown off a pavilion at a bowling green in Milnshaw Park, Accrington.

October 17: A car was destroyed on the Huncoat Within Grove estate.

October 13: A postbox, phone kiosk and takeaway in Accrington were all targeted by firework hooligans. Mr Prentice tackled Trade and Industry Minister Kim Howells this week on the number of commercial fireworks imported into the UK in the last year and where they ended up.

The value of fireworks imported into the UK during the 12 months from December 1999 to November 2000 was £22.4million.

He said the controls introduced in the Fireworks (Safety) Regulations 1997 did not go far enough.

Mr Pike said: "I am deeply concerned about this. One of my constituents has died recently as a result.

"We need to look very carefully at the use of fireworks and particularly to ensure that dangerous commercial fireworks do not end up in the wrong hands with disastrous and sometimes deadly results."

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman John Taylor said: "We have certainly suffered from more than our fair share of tragedies caused by fireworks in Lancashire. It's a problem that's not confined to November 5 any more. "It's a problem that's not confined to November 5 any more and some of the fireworks on sale are pretty hefty display fireworks which are in a different league from ordinary fireworks.

"We would certainly endorse any call for legislation that would curb their sale, especially to youngsters."

Trading standard chief officer Jim Potts said: "The fireworks on sale to the public shouldn't be, as simple as that."

Pyrotechnics' expert Maurice Bent, whose firm, Inspiration Fireworks of Preston, deals with 1,900 tonnes of explosives every year, says only trained staff should touch big fireworks like the notorious Onion, which killed Paul.