A TELEPHONE kiosk in a County Durham village was completely destroyed by a firework in an act of vandalism.

Several people contacted the emergency services after hearing a loud explosion in West Cornforth at about 10.30pm on Monday.

The noise was so loud that some villagers thought a bomb had gone off.

But the source of the explosion turned out to be at a telephone kiosk in Stobb Cross Road, causing debris and glass to be scattered over 40 feet.

A small fire started, but was out before firefighters arrived at the scene.

Police crime scene investigators closed the road while they took samples, swabs and what is believed to be the remains of a firework.

Npower were called to make the area safe as several wires had become exposed in the blast.

A police spokesman said: "Fireworks are a problem not just around Bonfire Night, but for weeks before and afterwards. We had several calls from members of the public wondering what had happened, but fortunately nobody was hurt."

A spokesman for BT said the remains of the telephone had been recovered and would eventually be replaced.