Street turned into Bonfire night 'warzone' as car set alight and police attacked with fireworks

TAU officers at the scene in Gorton. Credit: MEN Media

Police were attacked with fireworks and a car set alight as a street turned into a 'warzone' which saw a large group of youths build a "barricade" on Bonfire Night.

The group of between 20 to 30 teenagers are understood to have used wooden pallets and mattresses to block themselves in on Vine Street, in Gorton, East Manchester.

They then started an illegal bonfire with waste and a motorbike, as they set fire to a car and pelted Tactical Aid Unit (TAU) police officers and their vehicles with fireworks, narrowly missing other passing vehicles on Tuesday 5 November.One eyewitness likened the street to a 'warzone' with smoke filling the air and burnt out wood and empty firework casings littering the residential street.

Three men - aged between 16-18 - were arrested for public order offences. They remain in police custody.

Pictures from the scene showed a number of police vans in attendance in attempt to bring the situation under control, disperse the crowds and put out the illegal bonfire.

One person on social media wrote: "Looks like a full scale war zone down there." While another commented: "They were at it from four o'clock. They barricaded the street off.

"I had to climb over pallets and boards to get home and wouldn't let cars through, hurling fireworks and wood and bricks at cars."

It comes as emergency services were put on high alert across Halloween and Bonfire Night, with police and fire crews on hand to tackle incidents of anti-social behaviour erupting across the region.

The group made a barricade in the street. Credit: MEN Media

Superintendent Richard McNamara of GMP’s City of Manchester North District said: “As part of our planned operational response to Bonfire night, to safeguard communities, police patrols were quickly deployed to Vine Street within minutes of the report being made to us and the incident quickly dealt with and targeted arrests made to stop escalation.

“We know incidents like this will rightly cause concern to members of the local community and those people who enjoyed Bonfire Night safely – I want to reassure the public that this is an isolated incident, which was dealt with very quickly by local neighbourhood officers with assistance from officers from our Specialist Operations branch, who brought the incident to a safe conclusion. We have also worked alongside our partners in the area throughout the evening by deploying joint patrols with youth services and colleagues in the fire service.

“Thankfully, there were no reported injuries made to us and despite fireworks being aimed at our officers, I am also pleased to say that no officers were injured.

A large mob lit a bonfire and threw flares in the street before hurling them at police Credit: MEN Media

"It is shocking that we are seeing fireworks being used as a weapon towards emergency services as they try and keep our communities safe.

"A thorough investigation is underway, and while we have made three arrests in connection with this incident, further arrests will follow. Investigating officers are pursuing several lines of enquiry that will ensure that all those responsible are brought to justice."