“The firemen came here quite early, and the children were shooting rockets at the firemen. The police van at the time was behind them and they backed up, then at about 1am I heard the firemen come back and it was still burning.

“They were here all night. The place is a mess from last night. This is a lost community now because there is nothing else here for the elderly, which might have been one of the only human contacts they have to go for a cup of tea or go to bingo at the social club, which is all gone now.”

Pointing to the windows of his home, Glenn said: “You can actually see where the fireworks hit the windows. There’s my bedroom window and it’s like a bullet hole, it was from a firework. They were shooting fireworks into buildings. It was horrible, it was like a riot, it went on for hours. Usually they set off a few fireworks, but last night, I don’t know if it was a full moon or not, but there were about 70 down there, some had balaclavas on, it was like a riot. It’s not good, you can see the condition and it wasn’t even a riot, just some kids throwing fireworks.

“The club is probably gone now. It closed a few weeks ago, I was told by the store that it will be refurbished but now they will have to do a lot more or tear it down. It has continued through the ages.”

He added: “I’ve lived here for three years now but this was the worst by a mile, I don’t know what’s getting into them. You have to ask the question, who is selling fireworks to these kids? There is no more respect at all, there is a need for repression because this is too much, this is not enjoying bonfire night, which is destruction. It’s chaos, look at his condition.”

Another 65-year-old resident, who asked not to be named and has lived in the area for 10 years, told ECHO how “bullet holes” were left in his windows and he lived in “fear” after fireworks were aimed at his flat last night. He said: “There were about 200 people thinking around here yesterday, the kids built this huge bonfire yesterday afternoon which was lit on the grass behind the club. Cars were parked blocking the road to stop the fire engines coming down.

“Two of the firemen came down but fired flares straight at them so they couldn’t get near her. One of them (fireworks) hit him in the chest, he was very lucky. This went on for hours. Most of the people there were not from here, they built the fire on the foot of grass – the fire went out, but then it was all smoke.

“We’ve had nonsense for about two months, on the Night of Villainy they barricaded everything, same as on Tuesday. From the kitchen window I could see a glow and it must have been the burning club, it only closed last week.

“It burned all night, they arrived just after midnight. They lit it at 4 o’clock, but the fire was at 6 in the evening. We set off fireworks at our houses. I have a bullet hole in my window and my neighbor had to replace my window. He thought it was a brick, but it wasn’t. There was a round pellet hole in his window. Last year I had a burn mark on my window, thank God the window was closed.”

He added: “We had to put locks on the gates because last Thursday all our bins were stolen and set on fire. The police were called three times in one night. Kids come here to use weed, but it’s not fair to the people who live here. The kids are out of control.

“Kids don’t like me, I’ve had bricks thrown at me and all that, and they don’t like people saying you can’t do it. Four kids tried to throw me off Garston Bridge a few months ago, they said my full name, which I thought was pretty awful, they said they wanted to attack me. I’m a 65-year-old man with a cane, they’re a mess. It’s a shame.”

A mother said her son, who has a disability, was “terrified” last night after a “lovely family” bonfire turned into a “riot”. She said: “They had a fire last night. Earlier in the night it was quite nice, there were families there and they had fireworks. We didn’t go because my son is in a wheelchair and he has two disabled children next to him.

“But then, around 8.30pm, the families started to leave and you could tell it was going a little slow because there were gangs and gangs of kids just letting off fireworks from their hands. I went to bed around 12 and you could just smell the smoke, we had to put towels at the bottom of the doors to stop the smoke coming in.

“My son is disabled, I was worried, next door he just lost his husband. We went out at 2am and asked the police if we should be worried. It’s been happening for months, they were aiming the fireworks at the houses.

“In the night of mischief it was the same. They had all the rubbish bins in the flats lined up and police vans were lined up, it was like a riot and they were aiming the fireworks shouting ‘come, come’. Some of the kids were nine, ten, then they were grown men.

She added: “I’ve only been here three years and if I didn’t have my son in a wheelchair I wouldn’t be here but I need the bungalow. It’s awful.”

The ECHO understands a clean-up operation was organized by locals on Wednesday.

A full joint investigation between Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) to determine the cause of the fire is underway, the fire service said. An MFRS spokesman said: “Unfortunately some people chose to attack the people who keep them safe 24/7 last night. Unfortunately, this happened not just in Merseyside but across the country.

“Firefighters go above and beyond every day to keep everyone safe, it’s a shame they are being attacked while doing their job. Our firefighters did no harm in this case, but this could have turned out very differently. Those involved should examine their actions and consider the very real consequences of their thoughtless actions.”

Merseyside Police have been contacted for comment.