In recent days the Telegraph & Argus has published several stories in which the fire service has been praised for its rapid, professional and effective response in dealing with road accidents and fires.

All the more disgusting, then, that over the past year firefighters have had to put up with assault and abuse while they are just trying to do their jobs.

According to the latest statistics revealed by the West Yorkshire Fire Service, the past year has seen some fire crews threatened with shovels and even airguns, while others have been pelted with stones, had fireworks aimed at them, and been the targets of racial abuse.

It is very hard to understand what goes through the minds of those who perpetrate this kind of behaviour against firefighters who, by their very presence, are at the lower end of the scale trying to prevent damage from small fires and at the other are trying to save lives.

It’s disturbing that the Fire Brigades Union suggests that in some areas the abuse of fire crews has become a “recreational activity”. This is not something that can be ascribed to merely youthful high spirits or boredom; it’s threatening and criminal behaviour which our firefighters simply should not have to put up with.

Those who carry out this abuse tend to do so in the safety of numbers, under cover of darkness and from a distance, which merely marks them out as the cowards they are. Perhaps if the full weight of the law was brought to bear on them – as it should be – then they might think twice about their immature but ultimately dangerous actions.