Horrified residents were woken at 2am by the sound of explosions and a fierce fire that is now being investigated by the police as arson.
Firefighters were called to a blazing vehicle on a grass verge in a usually quiet Hurst lane in the early hours of Valentine’s Day (Tuesday, February 14).
One resident said: “A car was heard driving past really fast. We heard crackling and saw an orange glow getting bigger and bigger.
“There were two or three loud explosions, perhaps a petrol can or tyres exploding. It was horrible to hear it, not nice, awful. At first we thought it was a house on fire.”
The next day a petrol can was seen leaning against the wrecked remains of what another resident identified as a Land Rover vehicle. Telephone wires above the blaze site in Hogmoor Lane were burned.
Homes were left without landlines and some had no broadband internet as a result.
There has been speculation that the fire might have been connected to ram raids in the early hours of February 12 at Wokingham Superbowl in Carnival Hub at Wokingham and at Cherry Local Convenience Store at Bean Oak Road, Wokingham. There was also a raid on a Co-op store in Overdown Road, Tilehurst on Tuesday, February 14. But police were called to this at 3.40am.
On Tuesday Thames Valley Police said they were called by Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service to reports of a vehicle fire at 2.11am on February 14. The fire was extinguished and nobody was injured.
They added: “This is being investigated as an arson, and anybody with any information should call 101, quoting reference number 43230068339.
“Alternatively, they can report online via our website or for anonymity, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
A spokesperson for Openreach said: “Our engineers are repairing damage to one of our overhead cables caused by a fire, which is affecting around 15 properties.
“We need temporary traffic lights to enable our engineers to work safely and we’re getting these organised.
“As soon as they are in place, we’ll replace the overhead cable and start the process of connecting properties back to the network. We’re sorry for the inconvenience, and fully understand how disruptive not having internet can be.”
As we went to press, no-one had been arrested in relation to the incident.
