Two men have been arrested after a TikTok video was filmed on top of a Scarborough fire engine.
Firefighters described the man who filmed himself on top of the appliance as it drove through Scarborough as ‘reckless and abusive’.
The 43-second video was filmed yesterday evening at about 7.30pm (Wednesday). It was then uploaded around 11pm and has been seen more than 700K times since.
It shows the top of the fire appliance as it drives by Scarborough beach along Foreshore Road.
The man doing the video shouts out to passers by before the fire engine pulls into the side of the road.
Firefighters tell the man to get down and he ran off, shouting abuse at them. Police were then called.
This afternoon, police revealed two men in their 20s have been arrested in connection with this.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “They have been arrested on suspicion of outraging public decency and public order – they remain in police custody.
“The video was filmed at around 7.30pm last night and as soon as the man was spotted by firefighters, the appliance was brought safely to a stop.
“Three men then became verbally aggressive and abusive towards the firefighters before they left the scene.”
‘Completely unacceptable’
A North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We are aware of a TikTok video showing a man on the roof of one of our fire engines.
“The appliance was travelling through Scarborough at around 7.30pm last night when he climbed on top of it.
“This was unauthorised and as soon as he was spotted, the appliance was safely brought to a stop.
“Our crew checked for injuries before expressing their concerns around the dangerous behaviour.
“The man, who was joined by two others on foot, became verbally aggressive and abusive towards our crew. Treating our staff in this way is completely unacceptable and this matter has been reported to North Yorkshire Police.
“We know most people would know how reckless this behaviour was, it could have led to some very serious injuries, if not worse.”
The spokesperson urged parents to talk to their children about the dangers.
“We are well aware of the power of social media. If your children have viewed this footage, please talk to them about how dangerous this behaviour is.
“If we had received an emergency call, we could be writing a very different statement this morning.”
Police have spoken to several witnesses, but if anyone else has relevant information you can call them on 101 quoting reference 12230055973.
Information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.