Pull the other one! Diktat bans under-16s from buying Christmas crackers because

[Guest guest]

I am wondering just how safe Christmas crackers are now.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336785/Diktat-bans-16s-buying-Christmas\

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Pull the other one! Diktat bans under-16s from buying Christmas crackers because

they are fireworks

By Poulter

Last updated at 2:23 PM on 9th December 2010

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If you thought the jokes in crackers were bad, you should hear the latest blast

from the elf 'n' safety police.

Stores are being banned from selling Christmas crackers to anyone under 16

because an EU inspired diktat classes them as `category 1 fireworks'.

Check-out staff have even been warned they face a £5,000 fine – or up to six

months' jail – if found guilty of selling the `dangerous explosives' to an

under-age child.

Snap decision: Shops can no longer sell crackers to under-16s

Last night, some critics were left asking if crackers are so hazardous, why are

we putting them on the dinner table at all.

The cracker was invented in 1847 by Tom , a London baker. It subsequently

became a particularly British tradition, so any restriction on sales will be

felt more keenly here than elsewhere in Europe.

News of the `ludicrous' directive found its way in to the Commons yesterday,

where the Prime Minister was asked by Tory MP Ellis to `put a firework

up the health and safety legislation'.

In reply, Cameron seemed to promise action, saying: `That would give me

enormous pleasure and I look forward to doing so.'

The cracker rules were condemned as `particularly daft', by the British Retail

Consortium.

They are included in the Pyrotechnic Articles (safety) Regulations of August

2010, which implement an EU directive into British law.

The original directive recommended the ban should only apply to anyone under 12,

however the UK decided to go for the more draconian limit of 16.

Trading standards officers will be monitoring how retailers enforce the law.

Cashiers have been told to check the age of any cracker shopper who looks under

16.

Jane Bevis, of the BRC, said: `No one wants children to be able to buy things

which are dangerous, but extending rules for fireworks to cover the kind of bang

provided by a cracker seems particularly daft.

`It's vital there is a sensible attitude to enforcement until the Government can

reverse this ludicrous restriction.'

The regulations add a fresh layer of bureaucracy to doing the shopping. Most

retailers already challenge anyone who looks under 25 to prove their age if they

are buying alcohol. Others restrict the sale of matches and glue.

The situation has reached the point where some adults carry their passports to

cope with checks.

Read more:

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