Children as young as ten are claimed to be using fireworks as a weapon on the streets of Ashton St Peters in Tameside, Greater Manchester
NEIGHBOURS on an estate claim they are too scared to leave their homes for fear of being attacked by child thugs armed with fireworks.
Kids as young as ten are claimed to be using fireworks as a weapon on the streets of Ashton St Peters in Tameside, Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police have been called to the estate after a stray firework set fire to a family home.
Each year around Diwali, Halloween and Bonfire Night, an illicit market opens up for fireworks before they go on sale legally.
Maggie Austin, 50, confronted children about playing with fireworks but was later attacked and ended up in hospital.
She told the "It sounds like a war zone, some nights it's non-stop, one after another.
"We are waiting for it to get worse, we know it is going to. We've had it for the past four nights and fireworks only went on sale today.
"It happens every year, October, November, December - it's like living in hell.
"People say to me they don't know why I live here, but the rest of the time it isn't anywhere near as bad."
Residents have met police officers about the ongoing issue.
Tameside inspector Lee Derbyshire admitted the force does not yet have the resources to tackle the issue.
He said: "We feel for the people here and we would love to provide them with the resources, troops out there getting hold of these offenders, and we are doing the best we can with what we have.
"There are some great people in this community but there are also the people causing the problems.
"We want to try to bring people together to solve these issues, work with them and engage with them.
"We need to get the message out there that anti-social behaviour can end up having serious consequences, like the incident at the house on Blandford Street.
"We are working with schools and colleges to educate kids on the risks of this kind of behaviour, but we still need people to work with us, providing us with intelligence and information."
