A three-year-old boy’s coat was set alight by firework-throwing thugs as more than 50 teenagers looted shops in Enfield last week.

Footage shared by the Metropolitan Police showed officers and members of the public diving for cover near a McDonald’s on Fore Street, in Edmonton.

The masked youths aimed pyrotechnics at passing cars, causing shops to go into lockdown until more police arrived on the scene.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

The young boy who was caught up in the attack had been walking with his mum and nine-year-old sister, whose hair was also singed.


One witness told the Standard: ‘They were firing rockets at cars and people as they passed. It was insane. People were terrified.’

Another 6,178 coronavirus cases in highest daily toll since May

While another said: ‘They were jumping off the roof of the Tesco, on to the bus stop roof and then running away from police.



‘At one point they tried to throw a firework into the shop. We closed and sent staff home.’

It is thought a group of 16 teenagers also ransacked a branch of Subway, stealing bottles of drink and food.

Children were injured in the assault (Picture: Philafrenzy/Wikicommons)

The Met Police tweeted a video of fireworks going off in the street with the caption: ‘Some footage from last night on Fore Street.

‘Officers will always be used as a target to throw fireworks at, however members of the public [and] children were injured as a result of others inappropriate dangerous behaviour.

Police officers injured in 'acid attack' during drugs raid

‘Dispersal zones are still in place.’

The footage sparked debate online about the law around fireworks and the use of police officers as a target during this time of year.

In the UK, it is illegal to set off fireworks, including sparklers, in the street or other public places.

It is illegal to use fireworks on the streets in the UK (Picture: Getty)

Pyrotechnics must also not be used between 11pm and 7am unless for a special occasion, such as New Year’s Eve, Bonfire Night or Diwali, where the cut off can be midnight or 1am.

However, anyone above the age of 18 is able to purchase fireworks from a licensed store, with current sales expected to continue until November 10.

‘I can’t, as hard as I try, understand why we as a community accept people carrying explosives around,’ wrote Maria McCoy online.

Just 24% of UK businesses are 'fully ready' for Brexit

Another Twitter user added: ‘I’m so sorry that some people think this is acceptable. I’m so sorry that you guys are abused like this. It’s not right and not what you deserve.’

This is why fireworks should never be sold to the general public. Disgraceful,’ a third person tweeted.

While Sarah Dixon said: ‘Mindless. Not “high jinx”. This is totally unacceptable. It is equally unacceptable to accept that “officers will always be a target to throw fireworks at”.’

Enfield Met Police later added: ‘Its never okay to throw fireworks at officers, it’s not acceptable nor is it implied that this is okay.

‘It was a frightening experience for all officers on the ground last night.’

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.