People at village feasts would have to stand a safe distance away from ground fireworks if proposed regulations are adopted, The Times has learnt.

Sources close to consultations about new fireworks rules being held with fireworks enthusiasts and experts said there would be an emphasis on the safety of spectators during ground displays.

The regulations would impose a buffer zone between the spectators and the ground fireworks and limit the size of the fireworks.

The safety of "ġigġifogu" was called into question last week after 33-year-old Sandra Bartolo was seriously burnt when she was hit by a flying piece of burning wood the size of a football in Għaxaq.

Ms Bartolo was with her five-year-old daughter and was more than 50 metres away from the circling wheels of fire when she was hit. A Justice Ministry spokesman would not give specific details when asked about the proposed regulations, saying only that a holistic process to bring "more logic, more safety and better regulation" would also be addressing issues related to ground fireworks.

"This reform process has already resulted in a number of amendments to the Explosives Ordinance to raise the penalties for the possession, distribution, handling, storing, manufacturing and assembling of explosive materials, which were approved by Parliament last year," the spokesman said.

The amendments to the turn-of-the-century Explosives Ordinance came following a tragedy in March last year when an explosion in a residential area in Naxxar claimed the lives of 35-year-old mother-of-two Sina Sammut and Paul Camilleri, 47, who is suspected to have caused the explosion when he was illegally manufacturing fireworks inside his garage.

After the amendments were introduced, discussions carried on with the intention of introducing more regulations, also looking at ground fireworks.