Thousands of revellers gather in major city for scam 'firework spectacular' - a year after Dublin fake parade
Police had to break the news to revellers that there was no event - just over a year on from a similar incident at Halloween in Dublin
Thousands of people were left disappointed after heading to a city centre fireworks display only to find they had been lured by a social media scam.
Revellers headed to Birmingham’s Centenary Square as they waited for official fireworks that were rumoured to be happening on social media. But West Midlands Police officers patrolling the square had to tell those who made their way down that the event was not happening.
Social media and AI posts gave the impression that a spectacular fireworks display was going ahead but this was false information and fake news. Police and security officers were vastly outnumbered by the sea of people but fortunately there was only small pockets of disruption.
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The UK incident is similar to one in Dublin last year when hundreds of people gathered in Dublin city centre on Thursday night for a Halloween parade which turned out to be a hoax.
It's understood a website set up to generate ad revenue circulated the false information that a parade was due to take place. Pictures on social media showed crowds lining O'Connell Street in the city centre, waiting for the parade to begin - but with no police or stewards present.
Gardaí (Irish police) released a statement saying that no Halloween parade was scheduled and asking for those who turned out to "disperse safely".
The size of the crowds caused a brief disruption to the Luas tram network, with parts of the Red and Green line services out of operation for about half an hour.
In Birmingham last night, when the clock struck midnight, scores of people cheered and one person let a firework off in the crowd while another had a small box but no organised display happened. Birmingham has not held an official fireworks display for a decade.
West Midlands Police said in a statement online: "We’re aware of speculation of a New Year’s Eve fireworks display taking place in Birmingham’s Centenary Square tonight – but we can confirm this is not the case. We don’t want people travelling unnecessarily into the city centre tonight to be left disappointed after discovering the event isn’t taking place.
"Thousands of revellers will be coming into Birmingham to enjoy the celebrations at bars and venues across the city and that’s why we will have a large visible presence in the city to ensure celebrations go smoothly."
Birmingham Superintendent Emlyn Richards said: “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 into the city to be disappointed when they arrive and discover this is the case.
“There will be thousands of people travelling into the city to enjoy themselves at venues across the city. We will be visible on the streets tonight to ensure everything runs smoothly and people have a wonderful evening.”
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