Tonight myself and my Girlfriend were enjoying a meal at the Harvester in Ottershaw in Surrey. Whilst I was tucking into my chicken and she was eating her burger we heard a bang coming from outside the building. My girlfriend later said she thought this sounded like somebody dropping a keg of beer or something similar.
We carried on eating for around 10-15 minutes before staff at the resturant were telling us to evacuate the building as there had been an explosion in the car park.
Everybody ran outside and my initial thoughts were concerns that this could be my car in flames. It was, in fact a car parked not far from mine and as fate would have it I was thinking of parking in the space next to this car when we arrived. Lucky I didn't!
The car was well a blaze by this point. We were all advised to move away from the area but some people still headed towards the fire ball.
Harvester staff who were inside the building at the time said that they initialy thought the kitchen had been hit by a car, as the fridges shook after the bang.
There was a scene of chaos in the car park as we waited for the fire service and police to arrive. Some people were driving off and I was worried that it may spread to other cars including mine.
The fire service were quick on the scene and got the fire under control. I was able to move my car after checking with the fire officer who said it was OK. Staff at Harvester said nobody was allowed back inside the resturant, even after the fire had been put out. They suggested we leave and we didn't need to worry about the bill. This has to be the most extreme way to get a free meal ever! coupons are by far the safer option.
We drove home and I found myself in a bit of a state of shock. My mind was still sat at the table eating chicken and took a while for the nights events to sink in. Then the thoughts of "what if somebody was in the car or near it at the time?" Thankfully as far as we know there were no injuys but it could have been a lot worse. One motorist will be filling an insurance claim in the morning!
There was talk at the scene that this may have been caused by a stray firework hitting the car but this was not confirmed. Full credit to the staff at Harvester who were very calm and professional in dealing with the situation.
Our peaceful meal turned into something from a Hollywood block buster and we never got our puds ;-(
We carried on eating for around 10-15 minutes before staff at the resturant were telling us to evacuate the building as there had been an explosion in the car park.
Everybody ran outside and my initial thoughts were concerns that this could be my car in flames. It was, in fact a car parked not far from mine and as fate would have it I was thinking of parking in the space next to this car when we arrived. Lucky I didn't!
The car was well a blaze by this point. We were all advised to move away from the area but some people still headed towards the fire ball.
Harvester staff who were inside the building at the time said that they initialy thought the kitchen had been hit by a car, as the fridges shook after the bang.
There was a scene of chaos in the car park as we waited for the fire service and police to arrive. Some people were driving off and I was worried that it may spread to other cars including mine.
The fire service were quick on the scene and got the fire under control. I was able to move my car after checking with the fire officer who said it was OK. Staff at Harvester said nobody was allowed back inside the resturant, even after the fire had been put out. They suggested we leave and we didn't need to worry about the bill. This has to be the most extreme way to get a free meal ever! coupons are by far the safer option.
We drove home and I found myself in a bit of a state of shock. My mind was still sat at the table eating chicken and took a while for the nights events to sink in. Then the thoughts of "what if somebody was in the car or near it at the time?" Thankfully as far as we know there were no injuys but it could have been a lot worse. One motorist will be filling an insurance claim in the morning!
There was talk at the scene that this may have been caused by a stray firework hitting the car but this was not confirmed. Full credit to the staff at Harvester who were very calm and professional in dealing with the situation.
Our peaceful meal turned into something from a Hollywood block buster and we never got our puds ;-(