Hundreds of angry families were turned away from Odsal bonfire and firework display as they fought to get into the Bradford Bulls' Firework Extravaganza.

Many began to queue an hour before the event - due to start at 6pm - to ensure a place. But after queuing for as long as one-and-three-quarter hours to buy a ticket, thousands were turned away, while others jumped the queue in a desperate attempt to get in.

Ardent fans hoped to catch a glimpse of skipper Robbie Paul and his team mates for the Sunday Night Fever event, but never made it beyond the gates.

Brian Yorke, from Low Moor, took his five-year-old daughter Megan to watch the spectacle. "We queued for 50 minutes in the cold," he said. "I would normally have bought a ticket but Megan has been ill, so I didn't. She has been excited for this and she was in tears when I told her. I have now got to explain to her why she didn't see any fireworks."

Agnes and John Caulfield took their grandchildren to the display and queued for an hour before being turned away. "We were going to pay on the gate but people were walking back and told us not to bother waiting anymore. I am not so disappointed for us, but for all the children who are going to miss out. It should have been better organised than this."

Stuart Duffy, media and public relations manager for the Bulls said: "We can only apologise to people who didn't get it. We had a capacity of 4,300 and on Friday we had only sold 850 tickets.

"We had advertised the event for the previous two weeks and didn't expect the numbers to be as great as they were. I know a lot of people didn't get in and for that we are disappointed, but once it is full the ground safety team have to close the gates."

He said if they ran the event next year, they would make it ticket-only. "This is the first time we have organised something like this and the first time we have had an event sell-out," he said. "We hadn't really expected many more than about 3,000 for an event of this nature."

Those that made it into the ground were treated to the voice of opera singer Jeffrey Creswell, the Bullettes, Bullman and Bullboy, the Luvabulls, bouncy castles, a fairground and the Bulls 70s show.

Thankfully, events at Bingley's Myrtle Park on Saturday evening went more smoothly. The park surroundings took on the appearance of a rock concert as hundreds of people with glow lights waved about in the November darkness.

As traffic built up in Bingley and cars fought for spaces, families with young children wrapped in hats, scarves and gloves slowly made their way to the park for this year's celebrations.

Last year's bonfire had to be relocated because of the severe flooding, but this year's event, organised by Bingley Round Table, made up for it by being bigger and better than ever before.

After a short delay, the fireworks were lit and proved well worth sticking around for. Families enjoyed a quarter-of-an-hour of colour and noise and were clearly entertained by a firework 'mannequin' which, once lit, danced around like a trapeze artist, much to the amusement of the hundreds of children who looked on.

The spectacle finished off with a hail of loud bangs and an illuminated 'goodnight' firework sign.

Elsewhere in the district, firefighters were kept steadily busy with a number of minor incidents including rubbish, bin and car fires and bonfires, but no major incidents were reported.

Bradford Royal Infirmary was also busy, but only dealt with a couple of minor firework injuries. Police were out in force across Bradford to ensure people enjoyed a fun, but safe and crime-free Bonfire Night.

Bonfires in Bradford