Cleveland Fire Brigade: Attacks on firefighters at highest level for 10 years

Cleveland Fire Brigade says there have been "some real issues with violence to staff"

Violence against firefighters at a North East brigade has reached its highest level in 10 years, bosses say.

Cleveland Fire Brigade, which serves Hartlepool and the surrounding areas, recorded 75 incidents over the past 12 months including objects being thrown and lasers aimed at crews.

That number was 74% above the force's five-year average of 43 attacks.

The organisation said it had experienced "some real issues with violence to staff".

Tim Graham, the brigade's head of risk and performance, said there was a "direct correlation between deliberate fires and violence to firefighters".

Almost half of the incidents involved objects being thrown at crews while a quarter were classed as verbal abuse.

'Enormous amount of work'

Brigade chiefs stressed they were working with partners to clampdown on such issues, and had already seen successes in hotspot areas, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Firefighters have the option of using body-worn cameras, which have helped secure one prosecution to date.

Carl Boasman, assistant chief fire officer, said every incident was investigated and passed to police.

He said: "We've had some real issues with violence to staff in certain areas.

"An enormous amount of work has gone on both with partner agencies and our community liaison officers in those areas to reduce that violence."