County Durham and Darlington firefighters have issued a warning ahead of Bonfire Night.

The County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) are urging people to attend organised displays rather than having 'backyard bonfires'.

This comes after the CDDFRS reported 64 bonfire-related incidents and 96 anti-social behaviour fires between October 25 and November 7, 2023.

Chief Fire Officer, Steve Helps, said: "Please don’t be one of the minority that ruins Bonfire Night for the majority this year.

"The vast majority of people in the area we serve are respectful and considerate and deserve to enjoy all the fun and excitement that Bonfire Night and the days leading up to it brings.

"Sadly, however, we’ve already seen a rise in anti-social-behaviour and, most worryingly, attacks on our hard-working firefighters."

Since April, there have been seven separate occasions where crews arriving at incidents were attacked with fireworks, rocks, bottles, and other missiles.

Additional reports of verbal abuse and criminal damage have also been logged since the start of the financial year.

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"Not only could they injure a firefighter, preventing them from being able to attend a serious 999 call out.

"But they could also land themselves in trouble with our colleagues at Durham Constabulary."

As a precaution, CDDFRS has equipped their crews with body-worn cameras and all fire engines with 360-degree CCTV systems.

This will help identify those who seek to harm emergency service workers.

Allan Hobson, community safety station manager at CDDFRS, said: "Backyard bonfires are often fires without proper controls or safety measures which makes them potentially extremely dangerous for our crews to extinguish.

"They are also an environmental hazard and can be very disruptive and distressing for neighbouring residents."

In alignment with CDDFRS, Durham Constabulary and Durham County Council have also urged the public to attend organised firework displays to ensure the safety of the community.

Durham County Council’s safer places manager, Owen Cleugh, said: "Unauthorised bonfires can be incredibly dangerous.

"They also result in hundreds of nuisance incidents for the fire service to deal with, potentially taking much-needed resources away from our communities."