FIREFIGHTERS had to dodge exploding aerosol cans after rubbish was set alight. Three separate piles of rubbish bags were torched in Honeypot Lane, Basildon, at around 1am yesterday.

Aerosol cans in the bags heated up in the flames and exploded, sending them shooting through the air.

Station officer Gary Hastings, from Basildon fire station, said: "We take these incidents very seriously and anyone who is caught will be prosecuted."