| Christmas shopping was seriously disrupted on Newbury Retail Park this afternoon. The electricity transformer feeding the retail units exploded and burst into flames shortly after 2.00pm. All units apart from Homebase were forced to close.
Even 2 hours after the event, the transformer was still burning fiercely. Urgent arrangements are being made by Scottish and Southern Electricity to enable the retail park to open for business in the morning.
This couldn't have happened at a worse time. Today is probably the busiest Saturday before Christmas. | 
