Gangs of bikers and young people throwing fireworks caused trouble for emergency services across the UK last night.

More than 200 motorcyclists gathered in Birmingham for "a Halloween ride out", while in Leeds a group of 50 were seen racing off-road motorbikes and quad bikes.

A youth was detained over an attack in which he threw a firework at a police officer in Tottenham, according to the Metropolitan police.

The attack, which was caught on camera by a dashboard camera, saw the firework ricocheted off the ground and exploding next to a police car in Fladbury Road at around 9.40pm. 

Officers in Birmingham also tweeted footage of one of their vans being hit by a volley of fireworks. At least seven people were arrested and 10 motorcycles seized following the incident in Birmingham, West Midlands police said.

Ch Insp Jack Hadley of West Midlands police described it as “outrageous” and “totally unacceptable”.

“This wasn’t a rally of bike enthusiasts – this was loutish, criminal behaviour,” he said.

In Croydon, one died at the scene of multiple stabbings, while three others were injured. Police said no arrests have been made but they are still investigating the case.

Here, emergency services responded to thousands of call outs around the country last night. In Dublin, fire fighters responded to an estimated 250 calls.