Around eight people dressed in black fired fireworks through the streets of Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, narrowly missing a woman before a rocket smashed through a gym window and sparked a blaze. The group was filmed launching a flurry of pyrotechnics in the air, with one rocket passing dangerously close to a woman recording the scene on her phone.
A firework then broke a window at Gym Beast on Commercial Road, igniting a fire in the building's storage room. A nearby resident described the offenders wielding the fireworks "like bazookas" and said the noise was so loud she thought bombs were going off.
Resident describes close call
The woman said: "I jumped out of bed. I had kids in my home and thought bombs were going off. It was that loud from my flat." She added that someone chased the group down the street and they all ran off, and that police and the fire brigade arrived within five minutes of her call.
She also recounted that a firework came close to hitting her face when she went to the window to look, and that the group aimed straight at her window after seeing her recording. "Luckily I closed it fast enough or I would have a burn on my face over stupid kids' behaviour. I think there was eight of them holding firework machine guns and bazookas," she said.
Police response and gym owner reaction
Nottinghamshire Police said a dispersal order was put in place after receiving multiple reports of fireworks being let off in the street on Saturday. Officers were also called to a nearby Tesco Extra after a firework was set off inside the store.
Gym Beast owner Dean Smith criticised the actions, saying: "Sometimes kids are kids but they don't understand. This may just be a building but there are buildings across the way with families inside. It's fortunate this was empty. They're putting themselves in danger too."
Similar incidents in Birmingham
On the same Saturday, Halloween-related disorder broke out in Birmingham city centre, where crowds were seen running away after rockets were set off in New Street. West Midlands Police said seven people, aged between 15 and 26, had been arrested for a variety of offences.
One onlooker described the scene as "like a warzone," adding: "People were just letting off fireworks at each other like it was just a bit of harmless fun. I didn't see anyone getting hurt but I would be amazed if nobody was injured during that as fireworks were exploding next to people in the street. It was mayhem."
Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce of West Midlands Police said: "Misusing fireworks is not only dangerous: it's illegal and can lead to fines, arrest and criminal charges."
