ASDA and Tesco have agreed to stop selling fireworks in Dundee after pleas from MSPs following violent disturbances on Monday night.

One officer was injured in the chaos, and damage was caused to a school and a number of vehicles.

Dundee City Council leader, John Alexander, described the scenes in the Kirkton area of the city as similar to “a war-torn nation”.

Police wearing riot gear out from around 5.30pm last night, with gangs using the fireworks as weapons. 

In the Scottish Parliament, Joe Fitzpatrick, the SNP MSP for Dundee West, said he had spoken to Asda and that the retail giant had agreed to withdraw fireworks from sale in all three of their stores including in Kirkton. 

Labour’s Michael Marra, a list MSP for the North East, said he had spoken to Tesco and been given a similar guarantee. 

Both men asked Justice Secretary Keith Brown to encourage other retailers to follow suit. 

The SNP minister condemned the "appalling and wholly unacceptable" disorder He also congratulated the stores but said that “the decision on whether to withdraw legally available products is one for the supermarkets involved.”

He said the people most responsible were those committing the violence and that they would have to ”face the consequences before a court.”

“I hope that the court will make the full force of the law come down on those people who have subjected to local people to the experience they had to go through last night,” he added.

David Hamilton, of the Scottish Police Federation, said the scenes in Dundee were an “extreme expression” of fireworks disorder.

He told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “My working assumption, at the moment, would be that this happens every year and that this is just an extreme expression of what happens every year.

“And it is unacceptable, it doesn’t excuse it, it is something that is a problem when people get hold of fireworks and decide to have a shot at police officers, in particular.”

Pictures of the chaos emerged on social media showing wheelie bins on fire and flames and smoke filling streets.

Mr Hamilton added: “It’s absolutely unbelievable when you see these kind of pictures.

“Even for someone like myself who has been involved in these type of scenes, it is always a shock.

“This all particularly highlights the need for the new legislation that has come in to try to get some kind of control over fireworks.

“That’s not fully in place yet, that will be next year before that licensing scheme comes in, but that will be one aspect of it.

“Because this is not a one-off, this is something that has been happening for many years, which has been a problem for policing.”

Chief Superintendent Phil Davison said: “Throwing fireworks and other items towards emergency services is reckless and dangerous. No one should go to work and expect to be attacked.

“One officer suffered a minor injury and damage was caused to a school and a number of vehicles.

“I would like to reassure the public of Dundee that we remain committed to keeping them safe as we understand last night’s behaviour must have been really distressing for residents in the areas.

“We have a range of highly-trained public order officers available to policing commanders across Scotland to enhance resources and deal with any issues that arise. Officers will be patrolling the local areas to provide public reassurance.”

He urged anyone with information on Monday night’s disorder to contact police.