UK cities ‘under siege’ after masked youths blast fireworks at police

Fireworks exploded not in the skies but within the streets of cities last night as Bonfire Night celebrations turned violent.

Young people launched fireworks in the middle of Birmingham city centre yesterday, directing the blasts at people walking down the high street.

Fireworks rocked the city from 4pm, dozens of youths, most concealing their faces with hoodies, carried Roman candles and sparklers.

The chaos seized Staniforth Street, but it also spilt over onto Lancaster Circus and near the Aston Expressway. Another flare-up happened in Bordesley Green, just near Aston Villa’s Villa Park stadium.

Clashes between young people and riot police continued well into the night, with video showing dozens of youths crowding around an underpass before a firework erupts at 1:30am.

Another clip showed people running as fireworks bang behind them, while youths fired multi-short barrages at buses and storefronts.

They hurled flares in the street at cars, police vehicles and one another, with social media users saying the scuffles stretched well into 5am.

A witness told BirminghamLive: ‘Birmingham is becoming a scary place to be.’

Police arrested 21 people, with four teenage boys detained on suspicion of violent disorder and seized weapons in the Dale End neighbourhood.

No injuries were reported.

Similar incidents broke out across Manchester, with youths gathering at Ordsall Park in Salford and Halliwell Road in Bolton.

One local said Ordsall was ‘under siege’ by a group of up to 20 youths with fireworks for six hours.

‘Gangs of teenagers, some disguising their identity with balaclavas, fired Roman candles and rockets into the streets, posing real danger to residents,’ they told the Manchester Evening News.

‘The police arrived several times in vans, simply causing the groups to scatter, only for them to return a few minutes later.

‘We spent the entire evening a community under siege, at the mercy of teens wielding explosives like toys and it is not okay, or acceptable.’

The resident said they messaged their partner to urge them not to return home from the shops, as it was too unsafe.

Police confirmed that fireworks were also launched at people and officers, ‘causing alarm and distress’.

A dispersal order was in effect from 7:45pm yesterday until 7:45am this morning.

Trouble also broke out in Merseyside last night as efforts to extinguish a fire were hampered by people pelting emergency crews with fireworks.

A firework struck a teenager after crews arrived at Primrose Drive in the Huyton area just after 7.04pm.

A social media clip showed fireworks being launched directly at firefighters putting out the balcony fire on the third floor of a high-rise building.

The fire brigade said no crew members were injured.

Elsewhere, emergency crews were called to Scarborough Beach after children were ‘seriously injured’ by fireworks.

Teenagers were injured by fireworks going off in their hands and near their faces, a local community Facebook group said.

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