Here is why you can't buy fireworks at Sainsbury's

BONFIRE Night celebrations are underway and people will have been stocking up on fireworks.
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Firecrackers, Catherine Wheels and other rockets will all be in great demand, but they are not available everywhere.

However Sainsbury’s is the only major supermarket that doesn’t sell them.

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The retailer stopped stocking fireworks in 2019, implementing the change across its 2,300 stores.

Sainsbury's have upheld their ban on selling fireworks. Picture: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images.Sainsbury's have upheld their ban on selling fireworks. Picture: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images.
Sainsbury's have upheld their ban on selling fireworks. Picture: BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images.

Confirming this was still the case in 2021, a spokesperson told Gloucestershire Live: ‘We regularly review our ranges and this is based on a range of factors.

Customers can continue to choose from a range of seasonal products such as glow sticks and light-up spinning wands.’

Co-op also doesn’t sell fireworks.

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The sale of fireworks to the public has remained a hot button issue.

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A Government petition in 2018 calling for a ban on businesses selling them attracted 307,897 signatures.

The petition said the rockets were ‘a nuisance to the public,’ as ‘they scare animals and children’, and ‘injure thousands of people every year.’

Despite the outcry, the government didn’t change any legislation after a debate in Parliament.

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The following year, Sainsbury’s became the first major supermarket to pull fireworks from its shelves, and have not sold them since.

No reason was given for the change, with a spokeswoman telling the BBC it was ‘commercially sensitive.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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