Youths who put a full gas cylinder on a bonfire were branded "stupid and irresponsible" by the firefighters forced to tackle the timebomb they left behind.

Mick Allison, sub-officer at Acomb fire station, was amazed by the idiocy of the six youths who tried to set alight the 5kg butane gas cylinder.

Not content with starting the dangerous fire, the youths then put an aerosol canister on a second blaze before police could get them out of the area.

It was the second time in days that police and fire crews have had to deal with youngsters causing trouble in the Acomb area.

Police recently had to rescue the night crew from Acomb fire station after youths threw beer cans, shone a laser pen into firefighters' eyes and screamed abuse when the crew were called to a bin fire outside a pizza shop in Chapelfields Road.

And in March this year firefighters had to put out six fires in 48 hours that left benches and other items vandalised on public areas and roads at Acomb.

Today Mick Allison said the youngsters in the latest incident could have put their lives and those of the fire crews in danger by their foolhardiness.

"The effects could have been disastrous," he said. "If the cylinder had exploded it could have caused widespread damage over a large area.

"These kids could have been severely burnt."

Three fire appliances attended the incident on wasteland on Acomb Wood Drive.

As firefighters arrived, six youths, aged about 14 or 15, were playing around the bonfire.

The valve of the cylinder had begun to melt and small quantities of gas were escaping so officers placed the burning object in a wheelie bin and submerged it in water to cool down.

"With the gas escaping, it could turned have acted like a blowtorch, or worse, it could have fragmented and exploded," continued sub-officer Allison.

While officers were dealing with the burning cylinder, the kids dashed off out of sight and started another fire on which an aerosol was placed.

A small explosion alerted officers, who extinguished the blaze.

Sub-officer Allison said:"We were there for three hours dealing with the incident and our resources could have been better used."

Councillor Steve Galloway, who represents Foxwood on the city council, said: "It is a disturbing escalation of the problems in the area.

"I would hope that the courts will deal severely with those who placed members of the public at risk.

"This is another area where we would like to see CCTV cameras installed."

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