A Gozitan man was arrested yesterday following a raid in which a significant amount of illegal fireworks were found stored in a 20-foot container in his field metres away from a busy road in Victoria.

Police arrested Joseph Muscat, 44, of Victoria at 6.30pm on Wednesday after receiving an anonymous tip.

They swooped down on a field in Victoria belonging to Mr Muscat and found a green container next to a stonecutting workshop where he worked. Inside the container, they found the chemical powders used in the preparation of fireworks and a set of prepared fireworks known as kaxxa tal-ħruġ.

Sources described the quantity as “significant” and pointed out that it would have caused considerable damage had it blown up, especially since it was stored and manufactured in a metal container.

In 2008, an illegal manufacturing site in a garage in Naxxar exploded, gutting three houses in Ħal Dgħejf Street a few days after the general election.

Two people died, one of them 47-year-old Paul Camilleri, who is believed to have been manufacturing fireworks illegally, and 35-year-old Sina Sammut, who had just returned home after taking her children, Gareth and Kirsty, to school.

The field where the fireworks were kept in this case is located in Triq Santa Duminka, close to a convent.

The container was not visible from the road, as it was behind a rubble wall and below street level.

Mr Muscat is expected to be arraigned today.

Duty Magistrate Paul Coppini is leading an inquiry.