TWENTY-FIVE years ago two boys were tragically killed when two bombs planted in bins exploded in Warrington town centre.

The deaths of three-year-old Johnathan Ball and 12-year-old Tim Parry on March 20, 1993, will be remembered at a memorial service attended by Princess Anne on Tuesday. More here.

Representatives of Cheshire Constabulary and Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, who were deployed to Bridge Street to deal with the aftermath of the bombings, will attend the 25th anniversary event.

Steve Faulkner, a police constable at Cheshire Constabulary, was the first member of the emergency services to arrive at the scene after the bombs went off.

The 49-year-old says the horrors of that day are forever etched on his mind.

He said: “I was parked up doing paperwork when a call came in about a large bang on Bridge Street. I answered it and set off towards Bridge Street.

“The penny soon dropped as more and more calls were coming in saying there had been two loud explosions on Bridge Street and there had been a big bombing incident in Warrington just a few weeks earlier. 

“When I reached Market Gate it was like a football terrace. There was a mass of people gathered who had fled Bridge Street and it was clear that something bad had happened.

“In those days only advance police response cars had sirens so I had to beep my horn and flash my lights to get through the crowds."

After parking by the Midland Bank and walking down Bridge Street, Steve was met with a scene that he will never forget.

“It was absolute carnage with casualties everywhere and people in sheer panic. It was horrendous," he said.

“I could clearly see that bombs had gone off in two bins and I remembering worrying that more bombs may go off as there were quite a lot of other bins along Bridge Street, yet a lot of members of the public were tending to the causalities.

“Looking back that was an amazing example of human kindness shown en masse. 

"Anyone would have forgiven those people for thinking of themselves and trying to get to safety, but they put the injured first and did everything they could to help them.

“I saw Johnathan Ball in the doorway of a shop with several people administering first aid to him, one of whom told me she was a nurse.

“I was in a daze and there were people shouting at me to get help. 

"I radioed through to relay the severity of the situation and plead for as many ambulances and police patrols to get to Bridge Street as possible."

When his colleagues and other members of the emergency services arrived, Steve was posted to the bottom of Bridge Street to block off the area, before being moved to another area of the town to deal with crowd control. 

“Having been on duty since 6am I eventually got home at 7pm. I was living on my own then and I went to my mum’s house straight from work. She asked if I was okay and I then completely broke down," he said.

“I had only been in the force for two-and-a-half years and I had never seen anything like it before.

“I have never broken down like I did after the Bridge Street bombings and still to this day I always think about that day whenever I hear the word Warrington or are in the town or passing by it.”

Three weeks prior to the bins exploding on Bridge Street, three devices were detonated at a gas storage facility on Winwick Road.

John Garner, a former station officer in charge of Green Watch at Warrington Fire Station, was one of three firefighters who came agonisingly close to being killed by the third explosion soon after 4am on February 26.

The now retired 64-year-old said: “I was working nights when the gas storage facility bombs went off.

“At around 4am there was a loud bang and the Warrington station’s surrounds were inspected.

“Then while looking out of an upstairs window I saw and heard an explosion at the gas storage plant opposite the station. We responded immediately, with four fire engines and 13 men.

“In the minute it took to arrive at the gate I sent a major incident message for 10 pumps to our control.

“The gate locks were cut off with bolt croppers and I told the drivers to park up and set into hydrants.

“Two other firefighters and I then proceeded on foot across the open area towards the gasholder, which had flames coming out the top of it.

“As we got to within 30 metres of it the entire structure detonated and three million cubic feet of gas exploded.

“We turned and ran, and to be honest I expected to be engulfed in flames.

“Luckily the explosion went upwards like a mushroom of flames and missed us, and it then self-extinguished.

“We were lucky that night – if the gas storage plant had fully exploded the residential area opposite would have been devastated."

Weeks later, John was once again on the frontline as a major disaster struck.

“When I got there I saw the body of one of the boys who died. Seeing him was particularly upsetting for me as at the time I had a son of a similar age. A few tears were shed," he said.

“I was involved in the clean-up operation using our high pressure hose jets that weekend so that Bridge Street could be opened back up to shoppers on the Monday morning. 

“I was in the fire service for 29 years and the Warrington bombings are the most memorable jobs I was involved in.

“You train for massive incidents like that but nothing can totally prepare you for real life incidents on that scale."

For more coverage on the Warrington bombing pick up a copy of our 25th anniversary edition next Thursday.