Firefighters attended what they thought was a routine call in the Featherstone area – only for the two barrels, concealed inside the flaming bin, to explode.

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Now fire chiefs and local community leaders say action needs to be taken before someone is killed.

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The incident comes just weeks after the YEP reported a gang of youths in the same town were spotted using a gas canister as a flamethrower as they tried to torch a new £100,000 children's play area.

Steve Kain, watch manager at Ossett and Featherstone, said: "As officers approached what appeared to be a wheelie bin on fire near the area known as The Stacks on Friday evening, it exploded.

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"On investigation, there proved to be a couple of nine gallon beer barrels inside. A flaming piece of metal could have taken one of my officers out and caused them serious injury or worse."

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He added: "This is not just a casual bit of antisocial behaviour, this has now been taken up to a whole new level."

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Mr Kain said the level of danger posed to his officers in Featherstone now meant all incidents had to be attended by two engines – which means drafting in a pump from another nearby station.

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He said: "If there are two pumps at an incident in Featherstone it means you're tying up a pump that could be needed at a serious incident like a house fire or a car crash elsewhere."

Mr Kain said West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service were now working with police and local councillors to curb the anti-social behaviour plaguing the town and urged anyone with information to report it to the authorities.