Firebomb attack at snooker centre

Players had a lucky escape after the firebomb attack

The manager of a snooker centre which was firebombed has revealed a serious disaster was narrowly avoided.

Up to 30 people at snooker club in Batley, West Yorkshire, were forced to flee after a man tried to firebomb the building.

The attacker walked through a fire door at the Top Break snooker centre in Bradford Road at midnight on Saturday and hurled two petrol bombs into the building, but neither of the bombs fully ignited

Manager of the centre Zafar Iqbal told BBC Look North: "There were two people in the toilets, if we hadn't have put it out (the fire) they would have been in serious trouble."

Kicked bottle

Mr Iqbal told how he was alerted to the attack, saying: "Somebody shouted when I was in the office 'there's a petrol bomb.'"

"I shot out and saw a fire on the floor and started stamping it out, I kicked the other bottle out but that made it worse.

"These things shouldn't happen, these people should be caught."

The only description of the individual is that he was wearing a hooded top.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said the people inside the club were lucky the incident was not more serious.