Rotherhithe residents have been left wondering if they are in for a repeat of the “unparalleled” series of dangerous firework incidents last year, after a spate of fireworks were set off on local streets in the area over recent days.
This time the fireworks were thrown at Canada Water library, among other targets.
Inspector Tom Cornish, the Met Police’s neighbourhood inspector for Southwark, said that police think the group of teenagers this year is different from the culprits who were involved in autumn 2020, although they probably belong to the same 13-15 age group.
He said that police are very aware of the issue and are working proactively to try and stamp it out this year, in contrast to last year when the scale of the problem around Canada Water came as a surprise.
Measures put in place include dispersal orders, stop and search operations, working more closely with Southwark Council and British Transport Police and maximising contacts in the local community, including schools, to pre-emptively identify culprits.
Children under the age of eighteen cannot buy fireworks legally. Police think adults are buying fireworks and passing or selling them on to children near local schools. Checks on local shops have not found them to be making illegal sales.
Police responded to the first spate of problems with fireworks by putting in place a dispersal order over the weekend in the area around Canada Water tube station. The order allowed police to tell people they think have taken part or will take part in criminal or anti-social behaviour to leave the area.
The order covered the entire area within Lower Road, Redriff Road, Quebec Way and Brunel Road. It lasted from 8pm on Friday (October 8) to 7.59pm on Sunday (October 10).
Insp. Cornish told the News: “Misuse of fireworks is highly dangerous both for those misusing them and for the general public. I am dismayed to see that problems have occurred in the Canada Water area so early this year.
“We have brought our plans forward in response and shall be working closely with Southwark Council, the local community and the British Transport Police to tackle the issue.
“Anyone with information about the perpetrators should please contact police via 101 or contact their local Safer Neighbourhood Team via the Metropolitan Police website”.
Insp. Cornish called last year’s fireworks incidents in Rotherhithe “unparalleled”, although some level of anti-social behaviour related to fireworks is relatively normal across London. People sitting outside Leadbelly’s cafe near Canada Water station had fireworks aimed at them, while some were also set off into the station itself. Officers eventually identified the three members that made up the core group, as well as several other hangers-on.