Terrible stories of injured animals and safety concerns have led Wirral councillors to support a campaign for stricter rules on fireworks.

Cllr Lesley Rennie, a Conservative member for Wallasey, is pushing Wirral Council to do all it can to improve firework safety in the borough.

Last night's meeting of the authority's regulatory and general purposes committee supported a campaign which asks for the noise limit on fireworks sold to the public to be reduced.

Currently, fireworks producing noise up to 120 decibels can be sold, but the RSPCA has called for this to be reduced to 90 decibels.

The campaign also asks for stricter licensing rules for public firework displays.

Speaking at the committee meeting, Cllr Rennie said she, like many others, had seen horrific images on social media of animals injured due to fireworks.

The Wallasey councillor said she had heard stories of horses bolting and getting injured, giving one example of a horse which fell into a ditch and died after bolting due to shock from a firework.

It was not just animals who were at risk in Cllr Rennie's opinion.

She noted that veterans and others who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be "heavily affected" by the noise fireworks cause.

The Conservative member said she did not want to ban fireworks, but instead wanted stricter controls put in place to allow for a safe, responsible and neighbourly use of them.

Last night's discussion followed a unanimously supported notice of motion at December's full council meeting which set out what councillors are seeking to achieve.

The motion, put forward by Cllr Rennie and supported by fellow Wallasey Conservative councillor Ian Lewis, said fireworks, when misused, are dangerous and can become a public nuisance.

The motion added: "Council notes the work undertaken by the Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, through Operation Banger, to reduce anti-social behaviour and sporadic events, linked to fireworks and bonfires and thanks all fire officers for their work on this."

It also asked the leaders of each political group on the council to urge the government to limit fireworks sold to the public to 90 decibels and to "consider options that could limit the private sales of fireworks to individuals".