FAULTY electrics caused a spot of drama in the high street with a city card shop evacuated after smoke was spotted.

The Clintons Card shop in Worcester city centre was cleared by staff in what the fire brigade described as “good order” after smoke started coming out of one of the shop’s light fittings at the store’s rear.

At about 1.20pm today, the city’s white watch fire crew were turned out along with the retained fire engine and the aerial ladder platform - standard procedure for any call to the city centre.

According to watch commander Keith Peters, they had plenty of lights to search to trace the root of the problem, and after 20 minutes found the culprit - a burned-out transformer.

Commander Peters said: “We had a call at 1.20pm to smoke issuing from a light, at the rear of the shop.

“Staff evacuated in good order, and we arrived and after a search found a burned-out transformer.


“The difficulty was in actually finding it, which we eventually did.”

Nobody was hurt in the incident, and the fire and police cordon was lifted in the pedestrianised area at about 2.20pm.


The store remains closed however, awaiting the arrival of an electrician who was set to inspect the damage and make necessary repairs.