A FEMALE firefighter described an attack by a drunken yob as one of the most disturbing incidents of her career.

A court heard yesterday that Samantha Rye narrowly escaped injury when a thug hurled a block of charred wood within inches of her head as she tackled an illegal bonfire.

Firefighter Rye was part of a Darlington crew called to the town's former Springfield Junior School, on April 15 last year.

When they arrived at the scene, they found a gang of young people sitting around a small rubbish fire drinking alcohol.

Most of the youths moved away so the flames could be extinguished, but one of the older members of the group became aggressive and abusive.

The crew retreated to their engine and, while they waited for police to arrive, logs and stones were thrown at them.

Officers identified Sean Nelson, 22, of Jura Drive, in Darlington, as the person who threw the foot-long block of wood at Firefighter Rye.

Paul Hunter, prosecuting, said: "He was agitated, aggressive and deliberately threw logs from the fire at firefighters.

"Firefighter Christopher Honour saw his right arm rising and saw a wooden block heading for his colleague.

"He didn't have time to shout a warning, luckily the block missed, but he said he dreaded to think what would have happened if it had struck his colleague."

In a statement read out in court, Ms Rye, a firefighter for 16 years, said: "Although I have done this job for a lot of years, this ranks as one of the most disturbing incidents.

"I know without doubt had that block hit me, I would have been badly hurt. I was badly shaken and upset, which is not usual for me after years of doing this job."

Nelson had been due to stand trial for disorderly behaviour at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court yesterday, but failed to attend the hearing.

Magistrates found the case proven in his absence and issued a warrant for his arrest so he can be sentenced.

After the case, Dave Turnbull, community safety manager for Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said emergency services worked closely to reduce incidents of abuse.

He said: "Community safety partnerships are working hard to reduce these incidents through education, reminding communities that we are public servants working to protect the public.

"Thankfully, the number of incidents has fallen in the past few years, but just one is too many and could be lethal.