Three arrested after fireworks thrown at police officers

Thursday, 7 November 2024 14:11

By Central Radio News

Three men have been arrested after fireworks were thrown at police officers.

Officers attended a report of a large fire causing danger to the community on Meadow Street, Great Harwood, to support colleagues from the fire service on Tuesday evening (5th November.)

To complicate the emergency service response a large HGV had been parked across the road blocking access.

As officers left their vehicles on arrival, a number of fireworks were launched towards them.

Three men, two aged 19 and one aged 21, all from Great Harwood, were arrested on suspicion of affray.

Assistant Chief Constable Karen Edwards, Gold Commander for Lancashire Police said: “Last night a policing operation was in place across Lancashire to ensure public safety on Bonfire Night. My officers delivered a successful multiagency operation, which focused on prevention and public engagement.

“I thank the vast majority of our communities for all their support. However, this particular incident was significant, and in order to deal with the threat posed to officers’ additional resources were deployed with suitable tactics.

“Three men were arrested and remain in our cells. In addition, we seized and removed the HGV vehicle which was hindering the blue light services from doing their job.

“My officers attended the scene to help and protect the community, not to have fireworks thrown at them. Thankfully no one was injured last night, but fireworks are dangerous, and misuse of them can lead to devastating consequences.

“Reckless and imbecilic behaviour such as assaulting or attempting to assault emergency workers is not, and never will be tolerated in our county. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards anti-social behaviour and will continue to work with partner agencies to prevent criminality and anti-social behaviour in Lancashire.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact 101 quoting log 1267 of 4th November.