Amsterdam and Rotterdam mayors, and national police chief Janny Knol have all called for a national ban on fireworks following a number of serious incidents during the New Year festivities in the Netherlands, including the death of a 14-year-old youth.

Consumer fireworks are banned in 19 cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht, but the ban was widely ignored, and firework sales went ahead as usual.

“There is a firework ban in a number of councils but you can still buy them and they are still set off,” Knol said. “A ban would be a good first step.”

Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema called for a national ban on fireworks after a “large number” of incidents in the capital.

“A local ban has no chance of success as long as the government does nothing to stop the sale [of fireworks], and is giving consumers the wrong signal,” she said. Rotterdam mayor Carola Schouten and Utrecht’s Sharon Dijksma made similar appeals.

Eye specialists have been calling for a national ban for years and repeated that again this year, after treating dozens of people for eye injuries.

A survey by Ipsos last month revealed that 57% of the population would vote in favour of a ban in a referendum. Some 60% of people taking part in the RTL panel said they backed a ban, as did 64% of people taking part in the EenVandaag survey.

However there is no majority support for a ban in parliament and prime minister Dick Schoof told the AD on Tuesday the coalition has no plans to bring in legislation to introduce such a measure.

The Dutch spent an estimated €118 million on fireworks this year.