A BASINGSTOKE supermarket has been destroyed by an out of control freezer fire which broke out on Monday night.

Residents reported hearing explosions as Popley’s Tesco Express, in Carpenters Down, went up in flames.

Luckily, staff escaped without harm and sounded the alarm with Hampshire Fire & Rescue drafting in eight crews from Basingstoke, Tadley, Overton, Kingsclere, Rushmoor and Hartley Wintney to help. 

The fire service said it was investigating the cause of the blaze and would ‘work with’ Tesco to stop it from happening again. 

The store manager praised employees for doing a “very good job” at handling the alarming incident and thanked the response from the fire service.

The shop is currently closed with Tesco yet to confirm a reopening date.

You can read the full story in this week’s edition of the Gazette. Also in this week's paper:

  • A Basingstoke businessman who spent six months living in his car and ‘scraping by week to week’, has opened up about his past struggles in the hope it will inspire others facing hard times.
  • The county council is facing renewed calls to switch street lights back on as the government has announced a new fund to make public spaces safer in the wake of Sarah Everard’s death.
  • From being harassed, followed, wolf-whistled at or being cat-called, women in Basingstoke have shared their stories in the hope of raising awareness following the death of Sarah Everard. 
  • The extent of Basingstoke’s cladding crisis has for the first time been laid bare as The Gazette makes public the results of fire safety surveys that developers are accused of trying to keep hidden.
  • It was an emotional moment for residents at one Basingstoke care home last week who were reunited with their loved ones indoors for the first time since the pandemic began. 
  • A Basingstoke vaccination centre has reached a milestone after administering a whopping 50,000 Covid jabs since opening in December. 
  • Plans to revamp a major roundabout in Basingstoke have been given the green light - but residents will have to wait two years for it to be completed.
  • The manager of Basingstoke crematorium has avoided going to prison after faking petty cash reports to steal more than £4,000 from his employer.
  • PLUS: All the latest from Basingstoke Magistrates' Court.
  • Two pages of your letters to the editor.
  • The latest news from our communities.
  • An eight-page puzzle special.
  • Business news.
  • Three pages of entertainment news.
  • Two pages of sports news. And much more!

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