Two men who detonated a firework in a Cadbury Heath phone box, blowing it up with the force of a small car bomb, have been jailed.

Shrapnel was sent flying over 100 metres as the old-style red kiosk exploded in School Road, Cadbury Heath, damaging cars and buildings, and smashing windows.

Expert investigators concluded it was a "miracle" no one in the vicinity was seriously injured or killed, Bristol Crown Court was told yesterday.

At one stage it was feared a mains gas supply had been damaged and residents - who dashed from their homes in panic to see if their children were injured - were evacuated from their homes.

Luke Edgecombe, 21, of Quadrant East, Hillfields, Fishponds, was jailed for four years after pleading guilty to destroying property and being reckless as to whether life was endangered in the incident in December last year.

Ryan Taylor, 19, of Malvern Drive, Warmley, was sent to a young offenders' institution for 18 months after admitting causing criminal damage.

Paul Grumbar, prosecuting, told the court that three days before the blast Edgecombe had attempted to buy chips from the Friar Tuck chip shop in School Road but was refused because he had already been banned.

He then told owner Raymond Yip's wife that he would smash the shop window.

The court heard the telephone kiosk destroyed in the blast was just a short distance away from the chip shop.

Mr Grumbar said: "Witnesses said how it flew through the air and one said the noise was 10 times that of the largest firework he had ever heard.

"Witnesses in The Lamb public house said the whole building shook as a result of the explosion."

Afterwards smoke hung in the air, people found shrapnel had penetrated doors and smashed glass, and, because of fears that the mains gas supply was damaged, homes were evacuated.

While damage to homes ranged from hundreds of pounds to thousands of pounds, Mr Grumbar said the value of the telephone box was put at £4,000.

Two men were seen running from the area and one witness recognised Edgecombe.

The court heard when police arrested Taylor a photo of Edgecombe holding the 10-inch "onion" firework which caused the blast was found on his mobile phone.

Edgecombe had obtained it from his brother's firework shop, Mr Grumbar told the court.

Mr Grumbar added that a bag containing gunpowder was found near the scene, and it had appeared that the firework had been altered so that its propellant was missing and it was not able to explode upwards - only outwards.

Taylor told police he assisted in placing the firework in the kiosk and he was "suitably terrified" with the force of the bang.

Edgecombe had a previous conviction regarding possession of a firework in a public place and dishonesty offences, and Taylor also had previous convictions for dishonesty, the court heard.

Robert Duval, defending Edgecombe, said that his client had intended to detonate the firework on open land but after the bottom fell off, losing its propellant, he had decided to set it off in the phone box without anticipating what the size of the explosion would be.

Michael Cullum, defending Taylor, said his client had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and he had not evaluated what would happen properly.

Sentencing them, Judge William Hart told the pair: "The risk to somebody in the general area could have been catastrophic and it was of great good fortune no one was killed or mutilated by the explosion."

Edgecombe and Taylor brawled and had to be pulled apart before they were taken down.