Youths hurled fireworks at crews in Strathclyde

Brigades across the country attended hundreds of calls on Friday evening.

Crews in Strathclyde said that while calls were down on 2003, they had to endure physical and verbal abuse.

Fireworks were thrown at crews in Greenock and Cowcaddens in Glasgow and stones were hurled at a fire engine in Drumchapel in the city.

Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade said it attended about 200 calls and crews in the Highlands also reported a busy evening.

However, there was a reduction in calls in the Grampian area.

Early indications from services across Scotland were that there had been a fall in call-outs.

The most common calls for crews on Friday night were for out-of-control or unattended bonfires.

They have a difficult job to do without being subjected to the kind of attacks and abuse that some of them were subjected to Strathclyde fire spokesman

A spokesman for Fife Fire Service said it received less than half the number of calls than last year.

However, with Bonfire Night falling on a Friday further related events were planned for the weekend.

Strathclyde Fire Brigade said it attended a total of 233 secondary fires, including bonfires, on Friday compared to 450 in 2003.

But there were further hazards in the form of attacks on crews, although none were injured. These included:

• Crews extinguishing a bonfire in Serpentine Walk, Greenock, targeted with fireworks

• The stoning of a fire engine attending a fire in a derelict building at Abbotshall Avenue, Drumchapel

• Firefighters verbally abused when called to put out a fire in a skateboard park in Amochrie Road, Paisley

• Large fireworks thrown at firefighters called to Kennedy Path, Cowcaddens, where insulation tiles were on fire.

A Strathclyde Fire Brigade spokesman said: "The Fifth of November is the busiest day of the year for firefighters.

"They have a difficult job to do without being subjected to the kind of attacks and abuse that some of them were subjected to yesterday.

"We call upon anyone who has information about the people involved in these incidents to contact the police."

Legislation came into force earlier this year outlawing the use of fireworks between 2300 and 0700 GMT.