IT IS evident that the latest kids' craze - so-called exploding "bomb bags" - is not without risk.

For the case of an East Lancashire child being blinded and deafened for an hour by one is bound to to worry parents.

The newsagent who sold the product is acting responsibly by raising the age limit on the sale of these products from ten to 16 in his shop and by planning to report this incident to the Trading Standards Department.

But is such isolated voluntary action enough?

Other vendors, after all, might not be so concerned.

And if, with bomb bags, we have the equivalent of an all-year firework, then, perhaps, they should at least come within the stricter regulations covering the sale and use of fireworks.

Certainly the safety, use and availability of these things should now be thoroughly looked into.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.