Thousands throng central Birmingham after New Year’s Eve fireworks hoax
Share:
Revellers left disappointed after false reports of display in social media. Thousands of people gathered in the centre of Birmingham on New Year’s Eve despite a police warning that the announcement of a fireworks display was a hoax. Police and the city council had urged revellers not to travel after false reports there would be a spectacular show in Centenary Square.
Images from the scene indicated that thousands of people still turned up, joining a large crowd ringing in the new year. While there were cheers at the stroke of midnight, the promise of pyrotechnics turned out to be a damp squib. Supt Emlyn Richards of West Midlands police said last night: “There are rumours online that a fireworks display will take place in Centenary Square but there isn’t a planned event this year … We don’t want people travelling unnecessarily into the city centre tonight to be left disappointed after discovering the event isn’t taking place.”.
The incident comes after a Halloween hoax in Dublin city centre last year, when thousands of people gathered expecting a parade. A Pakistan-based company later issued an apology on its events website after a “human error”. In Birmingham, social media accounts disseminating the false claim of fireworks in Centenary Square included Birmingham Updates. The site, run by a marketing agency called Nonsensical, describes itself as having been set up during the 2011 riots “to dispel myth and rumour in the city”.
