Firefighters Declare Estate A No Go Area

November 10, 2006 Firefighters were last night refusing to enter a North-East estate without police protection after a series of attacks by missile-throwing gangs. Crews in South Tyneside have taken the stance after being bombarded with bricks and bottles as they doused a rubbish fire in Simonside, South Shields. The attack is one of about 40 on crews in Tyne and Wear in the last four months. And firefighters are now refusing to attend non- life threatening fires on the South Shields estate unless ...