Staff and customers dived for cover when a firework was thrown into a chip shop in Coggeshall.

The incident happened at the Ocean Fish Bar and Grill on Market Hill on Saturday, November 1 at about 7pm.

Owner Gurkan Beyazoglu said a rocket was thrown into his shop through the open door while two customers were waiting for their orders.

He said: “I saw it on the floor and it spun around and stopped facing the outside. The shop filled up with smoke and I heard it whizz off outside.

“A couple of seconds later there was a boom and it shook the windows.”

Lisa Mullenger, 41, of Churchfield Road said her husband Andrew had been in the shop at the time and was shocked by what happened.

She said: “He looked down and suddenly there was a rocket there.  He shouted ‘get down’ and a couple of them got behind the counter."

Anyone with information can call Braintree police on 101.