Nearly three tons of unlicensed fireworks found by customs officers in South Yorkshire are back on the streets after being stolen from a warehouse.

The fireworks were discovered during routine checks at a self-storage site in Barnsley, along with 150,000 illegal cigarettes on Monday night.

 

But the secured container was broken into and the haul stolen, hours before they were due to be moved on Wednesday.

 

Anyone with information about the fireworks is urged to contact police.

 

Customs officers handed the fireworks over to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, who could not move them until Wednesday because special transportation had to be organised.

 

John Kinghorn, head of detection for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), said it was "unthinkable that someone could be so stupid" as to store so many live explosives together.

 

'Organised crime'

 

He said: "These containers are not the proper environment for live explosives, especially when stored alongside more than 7,000 individual boxes of cigarettes.

 

"A small spark or flame near the container could have caused an extremely serious explosion and resulting fire."

 

Mr Kinghorn said anyone who is offered fireworks by an unlicensed dealer should contact the police or HMRC immediately.

 

He said: "This is a classic example of organised criminal activity, evidencing the fact that criminal gangs are prepared to deal in anything which makes a profit - they deliberately flout all laws and restrictions in the process and fear not for the safety or damage of the general public in their quest to make a profit.

 

"This was a lethal cocktail of smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes stored with a large quantity of gunpowder in a metal container and one can only surmise at the potential size of the disaster waiting to happen."

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/6213608.stm

lock up your letterboxes ;)

Fireworks are now banned here forever!! Thank god for that..it's a nuisance!!

 

 

But I guess it will encourage this kind of activity even more!!

here Deutschland or here New Zealand?

Anyone want to buy some cheap fireworks? ;)

Anyone want to buy some cheap fireworks? ;)

 

 

Ahahaha so it was you!!!! :P