Tyne and Wear fire crews barricaded and petrol bombed

Tyne and Wear's chief fire officer Chris Lowther said it was one of the worst attacks he had seen

An attack on firefighters barricaded and pelted with petrol bombs "can't go unanswered", a chief officer has said.

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service's (TWFRS) chief fire officer Chris Lowther said the crews were attacked in West Denton, Newcastle, on Saturday.

TWFRS said it had been called to a car fire which turned out to be a pile of rubbish set alight.

Mr Lowther said it was one of "the worst attacks I've known in my 26-year career".

In a tweet, he said the firefighters, who had attended the call-out early on Saturday evening, had been "barricaded in an area where a car was deliberately set on fire and had petrol bombs thrown at them".

"This escalation can't go unanswered," he said.

TWFRS said no-one was injured and crews had followed protocol to withdraw from the danger and call the police.

It added that it had been hard to determine the ages of those responsible as they were wearing masks and it was dark.

A representative said it appeared a member of the public thought a car was on fire because the blaze was near garages and the service did not, at this stage, think the call-out was made to lure crews to the area.

In a tweet, TWFRS said firefighters "do what they do to keep you safe", but it was important to remember they were "mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters behind the uniform".

It called for anyone with information about those responsible to contact Northumbria Police.