Children as young as seven are risking their lives playing with fireworks, worried pensioners say.

Elderly people living in the Lilycroft area of Bradford have been disturbed two nights running by groups of youngsters setting off fireworks and starting fires on a field near their homes.

Firefighters have had to attend the scene on two occasions to put out blazes started by the youngsters.

And the last straw came when one child caused a gas canister to explode by throwing it on a bonfire.

Joyce Bean, 69, who lives in nearby Lilycroft Walk, said: "There are seven and eight-year-old children, running around at nine o'clock at night right near elderly people's bungalows.

"We are absolutely fed up. I haven't been able to get to sleep, it was five past three this morning when I shut my eyes.

"This needs to be brought to the attention of these children's parents who obviously have no idea what they are doing.

"We have had this problem for five or six weeks and it is going to go on until Bonfire Night. I'm concerned for the old people living nearby and the children, who could easily get hurt."

Mrs Bean said she was in touch with Toller Lane police about the problem and was also approaching Bradford Council cleansing department to ask them to clear up the field and remove the junk that people had brought down to make bonfires of.

Sub-officer Howard Young, of Fairweather Green fire station, confirmed officers had twice been called up to deal with bonfires on the land, near Nearcliffe Road. He said he would be contacting colleagues in the community safety section with a view to doing more education work with local schools in the Lilycroft area. "I can understand the residents' concern and I would advise them to contact police," he said.

He said that the neighbourhood was not alone and that officers were receiving many similar complaints.

"We were called four times in an hour to Allerton Grange Drive to put out bonfires and while we were there, youths threw stones at us," he added.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.