THESE shattered fragments are all that remain of a York wheelie bin after it was blown up by a monster firework.

Students Gemma Whittaker and Paul Donovan returned to their home in Tang Hall to find shards of plastic and even wheels had been sent flying across the street into gardens and hedges.

Neighbours say they were convinced a bomb had gone off when the firework exploded with a massive bang earlier this week in Harington Avenue, off Melrosegate.

They warned that had anyone been walking past at the time, they could have been badly injured by one of the shards.

"It was terrible. It was just like a bomb had gone off," said a nearby resident, who later found a wheelie bin wheel in her garden and spotted a fragment of plastic embedded in a nearby hedge.

"An elderly lady living nearby was absolutely terrified. I have never heard such a loud bang.

"If someone had been walking by at the time, they could have been blinded."

Another resident, Matthew Scott, said: "It's a nuisance and potentially dangerous."

Residents said another bin had been blown up near the entrance to nearby St Nicholas Fields, and a third had been destroyed in Melrosegate.

Paul Donovan said he had been away and returned home late on Tuesday night to find the empty bin in his front garden destroyed, with fragments thrown into the road and into gardens two doors away.

"I phoned the council to say the bin had been damaged and they said: Fireworks, is it?'," said Mr Donovan, adding that a replacement bin had been promised in a few days time.

City of York Council said several bins had been destroyed by fireworks or fire around the city.

A spokeswomansaid: "It is very irresponsible and could cause serious or even fatal injuries."

Evening Press readers have continued to complain about the loud bangs caused by fireworks across the city, with residents in Haxby, Huntington and Heworth all reporting being disturbed.

A man living in Skeldergate complained that he was woken at 1.50am today by a massive bang from a firework, let off on the other side of the River Ouse.

North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue service spokesman Terry Glover said it was approaching its busiest time of the year, and he warned people to becautious when preparing bonfires and to avoid stockpiling bonfire materials too early.

Updated: 10:56 Friday, October 03, 2003