DOZENS of people have slammed an organised fireworks display after firefighters were called when a van containing unlit fireworks caught light.

Spectators attending the event, which included banger racing and took place on Saturday night, say fireworks flew into the crowd after the van caught alight.

Firefighters confirmed they were called to attend the event at Matchams, near Hurn, at 9.23pm.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said they sent two engines to a fire involving fireworks in a vehicle, which had been extinguished by the time they arrived on scene.

Spectator Yasmin Clark said: "One [firework] hit myself and the pushchair with my two-month-old inside, and another one hit a crowd of people next to us and exploded."

Meanwhile, spectator Victoria Morson said she thought there were about 5,000 people at the event, which was not pre-booked.

“We were sat watching the fireworks and they looked to be a bit low to me.

“We got into the car and the massive ones were low; they were going down and they were banging really loud.

"I’ve got ringing in my ears and my chest is still pumping. It was like you were in a war zone.

Another spectator, Ben from Hampshire, said: “They announced they were doing the fireworks and it’s an oval race track with a fence around it, so they asked everyone to step back a couple of metres from the fence.

“Fireworks started hitting cars on the outside of the arena and bouncing off, they were going over the crowd and you would have thought at that point the safety teams would have stopped it.

“I’m going to say five to six fireworks went off into the crowd, fireworks were falling down on people alight; people were hiding behind cars.

“They had a truck with an open back in the middle of the firework area, the truck then caught fire, fireworks were then going off left right and centre.

“One marshal tried to stand in front of the burning inferno with a fire extinguisher then they started the racing again with the fire still in the middle.

“The whole thing was completely unsafe, people were scared and running, it created an air of chaos.

“The children say they never want to go to a fireworks display again now, it looked like a war zone.”

Other visitors took to social media to raise their concerns about the event.

One spectator said: “People with kids were just scooping them up and running away. It’s the first time I’ve been to an event where I actually thought I might be injured.

“I’m not a firework expert but I wouldn’t store a load of unlit fireworks in an open top van next to lit fireworks especially if they’re going up and falling back down.

Ringway Raceway Events, who had been promoting the display on their website, declined to comment.