GIANT display fireworks are being "fired like weapons" at buildings and people in Pendle, police claimed today.

Officers warned youths were playing a dangerous game and revealed they fear someone will be killed in the run up to Bonfire Night.

Spent fireworks, some the equivalent to 35 Roman candles strapped together, have been found in the town centre, Mansfield High School grounds, at Junction 12 shopping centre and throughout Brierfield.

Now police are stepping up their patrols in Nelson town centre in a bid to catch the culprits.

Sergeant John Fryer said: "We're not talking about a few little bangers, these are absolutely huge fireworks.

"They are meant for displays and have a warning on them that all spectators must stand at least 25 metres away. They are also meant to be buried in the ground.

"That is not happening. The information we've received is that people are lighting these fireworks and then pointing them not in the air but at buildings or people, like a weapon. The amount of explosives in them, if it hit you it would kill you."

The fireworks are legal and classed as "category three" which means they are meant for properly-organised displays, not people's gardens.

Fireworks called Hayley's Comet, Stratosphere Pulse, Cosmos, Proton Bomb and Mass Chaos have been found.

Police are working with Trading Standards officers to find out where they are being sold. Anyone with information should contact Nelson police on 01282 425001.