Oxfordshire Trading Standards officers are calling for tougher laws to restrict the sale of fireworks.

Nigel Strick, head of Oxforshire Trading Standards, said: "We have grave concerns that fireworks that can be legitimately sold are getting bigger.

"Many carry a warning that no-one should stand within 25m of them, but there can't be many gardens with that sort of clearance."

The council's executive will be asked on November 12, to raise the department's concerns with the Government.

Last year there was a 40 per cent increase across the country in accidents involving fireworks.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's deputy chief officer John Hurren said the sale of cheap imports, particularly from China, that did not match UK safety specifications was more worrying than the sale of larger devices.