POLICE are hunting yobs who fired a rocket flare into a family’s living room at their city home.

A mother and son were in the house as the powerful firework smashed through a double-glazed window and started a blaze at their home in Wonford.

And terrified neighbours feared the worst when they heard a loud bang and saw black smoke billowing out of the house in Rutherford Street.

The incident has prompted a stark warning from fire chiefs on the eve of Bonfire Night that the misuse of fireworks will not be tolerated.

Detectives have now launched a criminal investigation into the incident, which is being treated as arson with intent to cause harm.

The 48-year-old woman, who did not want to be named for fear of further attacks, said she had been left extremely shaken by the incident.

The mother, who shares the house with her partner and 18-year-old son, said she had no idea who fired the device through her window.

“I wasn’t in the living room at the time but my son was,” she said. “We don’t know who did it or why.”

A  couple who live two doors away said they were left “petrified” by the incident which happened at around 11pm. Derek Reilly, 34, and Lucy Tremlett, 27, have just moved into the street with their six-year-old child and said their neighbours could have been killed.

Lucy told the Echo: “I was sat on the sofa in the living room when it happened.

“I heard a really loud bang and I thought someone had smashed the car.

“I looked out the window and saw loads of black smoke. We went outside to make sure the woman and her son living in the house were all right.

“I was petrified — if it had come through our window we could have been killed.

Mr Reilly added: “The force of the flare must have been huge for it to smash through a double glazed window — it was really scary.”

The shattered window has now been boarded up but residents in the street say they will be taping up their letterboxes ahead of Bonfire Night tomorrow.

A spokesman for Devon & Cornwall police said a man in a white Mercedes saloon was seen to fire a rocket flare at the window of the property.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact them.

Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service warned that anyone who put others at risk by misusing fireworks could face prosecution.

Station manager Keith Pascoe, from the service’s community safety department, said: “While most people enjoy fireworks responsibly, in the wrong hands they can cause real misery.

“Fireworks are explosives and as such should be treated with respect and only used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and the Firework Code.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident, which occurred late on Friday evening, or who has any information, is asked to contact investigating officer Detective Constable Suzanne Vranch on 08452 777444, quoting crime reference DE/09/12042.