FIREFIGHTERS could face a renewed wave of violence if police takeover plans go ahead, their union warned yesterday after a halloween night of horrors.

Manchester firefighters were pelted with bricks and fireworks and a Staffordshire crew had to call for back-up after being surrounded by youths, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said, pointing to other attacks in Northumberland, Peterborough, Leeds and across Scotland.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said the “shocking and disgraceful” attacks were “not common” but warned: “We fear that violent attacks on firefighters, which have reduced over the past 10 years — largely because of the increased presence of firefighters in their local communities — could make a resurgence.”

Ministers are consulting on plans to allow responsibility for fire and rescue services to be taken over by police and crime commissioners — something Mr Wrack decried as “a mistake” that would result in “an erosion of the public trust we rely on daily.”

He said: “We provide a humanitarian service — not a law enforcement service.”

Firefighters are also under attack from their own bosses across Britain.

London fire bosses recommended on Thursday night that 13 fire engines be scrapped because targets were being met.

FBU’s Ian Leahair said it “beggars belief” that the commissioner wanted to lose the pumps “just a week after a man died because an appliance did not reach him in time.”

And Northumberland County Council announced a reduction of more than a quarter of its front-line fleet and the closure of Haydon Bridge fire station.

FBU Northumberland secretary Guy Tiffin said residents were “facing a postcode lottery in terms of a quick response to a fire or other rescue incident,” as a result of the mooted cuts.