Just before Twickenham Stadium’s gates opened on the Powergen Cup final day, fire broke out on a mobile catering unit behind the South Stand. The four staff inside left without incident, but because of gas canisters within the unit, the fire brigade, who were on site within eight minutes, imposed a 200 yard exclusion zone until they were sure there was no further danger. Kick off of the Powergen Junior Vase final was delayed and playing time reduced to 30 minutes each way.

Said Stadium Director Richard Knight, “The situation was dealt with extremely effectively, nobody was hurt and there was no damage to the ground. We are now working with the fire brigade investigation team to discover why the incident occurred and will appoint an independent health and safety consultant to undertake a full audit of our mobile catering contractors’ health and safety and operational procedures.”