“WHICHEVER individual brought that in should be locked up.” That was Robins boss Danny Wilson's frank assessment of the incident at the Matchroom Stadium on Saturday which saw a flare thrown by a Swindon Town fan set a segregation net alight.

Three stewards reacted quickly to douse the flames and prevent any serious damage or danger, after the red flare was set off in the wooden-floored East Stand during the second half of Town's League One clash with Leyton Orient.

“Whoever brought that in to the stadium needs kicking out,” said Wilson.

“It's absolute stupidity. They're our fans as well, and they're brilliant our fans. But whichever individual brought that in should be locked up.

“You can see where it landed, it landed where there were no supporters. I'm not sure whether he meant to throw it there, but where it did end up was the segregation area, which could have caught fire quite easily.”

The Metropolitan Police made three arrests in relation to the incident after travelling Town fans aided Orient stewards in identifying the culprits.

Smoke briefly billowed across the playing area as the marker pen-sized flare set fire to meshing inside the old directors' box.

Wilson insisted that the moment of idiocy did not distract his side from their game, but reiterated his disgust with the actions of the small group of fans.

“The lads are focused, both sets of teams are focused,” he said.

“It's an incident which is a distraction at the time but they get back onto their game straight away.

“We don't want to see those kind of incidents happen ever again.”

Leyton Orient chief executive Matt Porter was enraged by what he deemed “the most stupid single act I have ever seen inside Brisbane Road.”

He said: “These individuals endangered the lives of the 1,580 fans from both teams inside the stand with their idiotic actions and it could have been much, much worse.

“The club will fully assist in the investigation and will be pressing for the strongest possible punishments for the offenders.”

Swindon Town directors present at the game have asked for the names of the perpetrators to be passed onto them as they consider taking action against the individuals in question.

Leyton Orient FC thanked those Town fans who assisted stewards in making the arrests during the game, saying: “They were outraged that their lives had been put in danger and want these people held to account for their actions.”