Mother’s shock after boys’ prank left her fighting for breath
AMUM suffered a severe asthma attack after claims a group of young boys let off fire extinguishers outside an off-license.
Viki Croston, 40, from Milnrow, was picking up a takeaway with her partner, when she described seeing a ‘mushroom cloud of white powder’ surround her car.
The mum-of-one from Milnrow, says she was left trapped inside her 2019 plate KIA for 10-minutes, before she felt safe to get out and run to a nearby shop for cover.
Video footage shows the pavement on Buttermere Avenue, Heywood, and a number of cars caked in a white powder that resembles snow.
Viki claims she was left struggling to breathe after the fumes got inside the car, causing her to suffer an asthma attack.
She says she hadn’t been carrying her inhaler at the time of the attack, which occurred shortly after 6.40pm on Monday evening.
“We got to the takeaway but were told it was going to be a 15-minute wait so we decided to go back to the car,” Viki said.
“I had seen a group of kids and I said to my partner to be careful, as I had a funny feeling about them.
“The next thing, I saw this young lad who looked only about 13, with a large fire extinguisher.”
Viki says before she and her partner could react, their car was covered by a cloud of smoke.
“There were two fire extinguishers and they were aiming them at the offlicense but our brand new car got covered in it,” Viki said.
“All the fumes came into the car and gave me an asthma attack.
“I was just trapped inside the car struggling to breath because we couldn’t get out.”
“Mainly because we couldn’t see, and secondly because we were scared what might happen.”
Viki says she and her partner were stuck inside the car for several minutes before the cloud started to clear outside.
“I jumped out the car and run into the shop and told them to shut the door so I could catch my breath,” she added.
“The whole incident was pretty shocking.
“It’s the shop keeper I feel sorry for, he says this kind of thing happens all the time.
“Hundreds of pounds of stock has been destroyed and the takeaway have had to refund customers for ruined food.”
A spokesperson for GMP confirmed: “We were called at 8.21pm on Monday night to reports of anti-social behaviour.
“Arrangements were made for an officer to attend the address to discuss concerns around ASB.”