A fire crew had to call police when a group of youths pelted them with bricks as they tried to tackle a blaze.

Fire chiefs have condemned the mindlessness of the thugs, who attacked the crew from Bradford fire station at the weekend.

They had been called to a fire on open ground in Upper Castle Street, West Bowling, Bradford, following reports of a large bonfire made of sofas, beds and other furniture.

Fearing the flames would get out of control, the crew trained their hoses on the fire.

This angered three youths, who hurled bricks at the firefighters. One crew member was hit on the head.

Bradford crew manager Alan Holdsworth said: “It was a reasonably large bonfire close to a lot of dry grass and there were inappropriate things being burned on it like sofas and beds.

“We started putting it out and the youths there were not very happy about it and started pelting bricks at us.

“We got the police out and they dispersed when they got there.”

He added: “This is a nationwide problem but there are certain areas of Bradford when we get it badly from time to time. It is getting into silly season now when the nights are getting darker and bonfire night is not too far away.”