Ministers were today warned that action to slash the decibel level of publicly-available fireworks could amount to an effective ban on the sale of rockets.
The Government has recently concluded a public consultation on a proposal to reduce the perceived noise of fireworks that can be sold in shops by around 50 per cent.
This would see the permitted decibel level cut from 120 to 110, which is said to be equivalent to the noise of a car horn or a pneumatic drill.
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) also sought views on whether it should be reduced even further to 90 A-weighted decibels - measured using the impulse time weighting (dBAimp) - as demanded by some animal welfare groups.
But, appearing before a committee of MPs on Tuesday, a leading industry figure warned that dropping the legal limit to 90 dBAimp would be a ban on the sale of fireworks 'in all but name'.
Steve Raper, chairman of the British Fireworks Association, added that reducing the legal limit to 90 dBAimp would 'open up a can of worms' by driving people to purchase unregulated rockets and potentially unsafe on the black market.
He acknowledged that cutting the decibel level to 110 dBAimp, the Government's proposal, would not be an 'industry-destroying' action.
Yet this would likely still force around 30 per cent of currently-available firework varieties to be withdrawn from sale, he added.
The Government has recently concluded a public consultation on a proposal to reduce the perceived noise of fireworks that can be sold in shops by around 50 per cent
Category F1, F2 and F3 fireworks are available to the public, while category F4 fireworks are for professional use only
'What you would be left with are, in essence, the Roman candles that we see quite a lot in the media being fired in the streets,' Mr Raper told MPs.
There are currently periods around Guy Fawkes night, New Year's Eve, Chinese New Year, and Diwali when fireworks can be sold from non-specialist shops, such as supermarkets like Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, and Tesco.
At all other times of the year, pyrotechnics can only be sold by stores holding a licence. Category F1, F2 and F3 fireworks are available to the public, while category F4 fireworks are for professional use only.
The current maximum permitted noise level for F1, F2 and F3 fireworks available to consumers is 120 dBAimp.
MPs on the Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee used Tuesday's hearing to express their concerns about an increase in the anti-social use of fireworks across many parts of the year.
They also heard from David Bowles, of the RSPCA, about the effect of loud fireworks on pets, as well as Alan Friggieri, of Combat Stress, over the impact of noisy rockets on military veterans.
But Mr Raper argued that stronger enforcement of existing legislation would be more effective in reducing social harms from fireworks, rather than tougher laws.
Asked about calls to reduce the legal limit to 90 dBAimp, he told MPs this would be 'in essence a firework ban in the UK'.
'If you're dropping down to 90 decibels, that is 90 per cent of the fireworks that have ever come into the UK,' he added.
Mr Raper added that a number of fireworks need to be louder than this level because they need two explosive charges 'to get the aerial effect'.
He suggested only sparklers would be left on sale under such a limit, telling the committee: 'What you then have is a legal market for sparklers, which - by the way - are the fireworks that cause the most injuries, based on use.
'And you have this huge gap - 20 million people that enjoy fireworks. If a tenth of those seek to go to the black market, you've got no control over it.'
But Mr Bowles backed efforts to reduce the noise level of rockets to 90 dBAimp and said it was possible to produce 'quiet fireworks' that were not just sparklers.
He also called for the wider introduction of firework control zones - such as those that can be enforced in Scotland to make it an offence to set off fireworks in certain areas - in order to protect animal shelters and zoos.
Mr Bowles added that ministers should look at banning F2 and F3 fireworks from public sale and keep them reserved only for public displays.
Mr Friggieri described the experience of one 'extremely distressed' veteran who 'used to spend pretty much the whole month of October and November in isolation'.
'He would talk about finding himself just curled up in a ball on the floor,' he added.
Appearing in front of the same committee later on Tuesday, business minister Kate Dearden told MPs she regularly heard about the 'nuisance' of fireworks from her own constituents.
'I'm really glad we have launched the consultation,' the Halifax MP said.
'That was in response to such a significant amount of stories and desire to see a change in regulations and legislation from individuals themselves, campaigning organisations and I have heard it from my own constituents since I've been elected.'
She revealed that 140,000 people had replied to her department's consultation, which she added 'shows the scale of desire to see Government action in this space'.
'We have heard loud and clear that desire,' Ms Dearden said, as she expressed her ambition for any legislative changes as a result of the consultation to be in place before next year's Guy Fawkes night.
The Government is yet to publish its formal response to the consultation that closed on 7 October.
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