Horse riders Claire Poole and her sister, Alison, were shot at with rockets as they rode in a beauty spot near Haworth.

Claire, 26, and Alison, 23, were terrified as one firework exploded about 15ft above their heads.

It was one of three rockets fired from the rear of a Honda Civic car by four youths. Two of the rockets veered away from the riders.

The sisters were riding on a bridleway near to Black Moor Road and the attack happened after they spotted a car reverse up the lane towards them.

"At first we heard a loud noise and thought 'what was that'," said Claire, of Clayton, Bradford. Her sister was visiting from Didsbury.

"I turned around and saw the car and heard another bang and when I turned again I saw the window down at the back of the car.

"They had opened the rear window and used it to lean the rocket on and fired directly at us.

"I couldn't believe what was happening. There was a bang, about 10 to 15ft above our heads." Claire added: "We had to stay calm because we didn't want the horses to bolt and as soon as we got a distance away we cantered off.

"It was only then that we realised how dangerous it was. If the horses had bolted or if a rocket had hit us we could have been killed. It is terrifying to think about."

Claire was riding her horse Charlie and Alison was on Claire's friend's horse Danny.

Claire said: "Alison was visiting and I wanted to show her how beautiful it is.

"Bradford has a bad image but once you get to know it, it's lovely around here."

She has now vowed not to go riding in the area again until after Christmas and the New Year, when the firework season is over.

Claire decided not to report the incident to police because she failed to get the registration number of the car.

But she saw four male Asians, aged in their teens or early 20s, in the car, which had a large white sticker in the rear window.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said action would be taken against anyone caught throwing fireworks or misusing them.