SHOPPERS were held in a city store for almost an hour on Saturday while emergency crews tackled a car fire outside.

Two crews from Hereford attended the fire at Homebase, in Three Elms Road, at around 1.50pm. A number of customers were kept inside the store due to fears of an explosion.

Dave Hughes, a property manager at the Weir gardens, at Swainshill, was shopping in Homebase at the time.

“We were held up for about an hour,” he said. “There was a minor panic as people had to move their cars away from the fire.

“People were also kept away from the glass windows because, as it was an LPG car, there were fears of an explosion.”

Officers used two hose reels and foam to extinguish the car by around 3.30pm. They also isolated LPG from the vehicle.