BIG crowds enjoyed Odiham Fire Show – but the organiser had to fend off criticism about poor taste.

A Manchester newspaper and some its online readers claimed a staged fire at a mocked-up F W Woolworth store at the show was a mockery of a 1979 tragedy in which 10 people died when fire ripped through a Woolworth’s store in their city.

The structure at Odiham was made from pallets and had windows with metal bars painted on its facade. This particularly incensed some readers of the Manchester Evening News, including survivors, because the Manchester store had bars that firefighters had to cut through.

But organiser Mick Paull told The Gazette the mock-up store was not meant to be anywhere in particular, just a typical shop.

Mr Paull, a firefighter at Odiham fire station, said: “It was not insensitive. The store had F W Woolworth written on it, which was before they became Woolworth’s.

“It was a depiction of Woolworth’s in the 1960s, similar to the Basingstoke building, and completely different from Manchester.

“All Woolworth’s once upon a time had bars over the windows and following the blaze they were removed and fire safety regulations improved.

“I think people should stop trying to make issues and do what we do, which is work hard all year to put the show on and raise money for charity.”

Thousands of people and up to 135 emergency vehicles were at the Odiham fire show on Saturday and Sunday for what is thought to be the biggest event of its kind in the country.

Drills and displays of fire-fighting through the ages were shown, from the 19th century to the present.

In a Victorian display, firefighters used a hand-powered pump to extinguish a blaze in a way not much different from the Great Fire of London 200 years earlier.

Preserved vehicles included a 1770 Newsham manual pump, a horse-drawn 22-man manual pump and the famous Green Goddess vehicle.

The event was opened by North East Hampshire MP James Arbuthnot and money raised will go towards The Fire Fighters Charity.

The Odiham Fire Show was started in 1992 after the station’s open days outgrew the station.

Lisa Burgess, of Ravenscroft, in Hook, took her three sons to the event. She said: “This is our third time here and the boys absolutely love it.”