Dangerous Fireworks Leicester

14 October 2011, 07:19 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Police are worried a teenager could lose a hand or arm by messing around with out-of-date fireworks in Leicester.

They're are being sold from the back of vans across estates in the city.

The Arson Task Force reckon the rockets are at least 10 years old and are concerned they could explode unexpectedly.

DC Dell Gillespie has been telling Capital that it might be tempting to buy cheap fireworks but it's really not worth badly injuring yourself for:

"When you light one of these, we just really don't know what's going to happen.

"Youngsters do tend to muck about with them and if one of these goes off in their hand, it's going to cause them a serious injury, potentially take somebody's hand or arm off."

DC Gillespie wants people to tell them or ring Crimestoppers if they know who's selling the rockets:

"We don't know where they've been stored for this length of time, so they could well have deteriorated and weakened.

"We are afraid that these could cause some serious injuries."

Officers are also appealing to the people selling the fireworks, not to, DC Gillespie:

"If they're going to cause an injury to a young person, they've got to live with that."

DC Dell Gillespie talks to Capital.

You can call Crimestoppers, anonymously, 0800 555 111or call Leicestershire Police 0116 222 2222.