Fire does not stop the Christmas Tree Festival at St Barnabas Linslade

Linslade Singers were taking part in the Christmas Concert at the Parish Church, Vicarage Road, on Saturday night when they noticed a burning rubber smell.

They alerted the team vicar, Reverend Dr Bernard Minton, and Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue were called, officers attended the scene and extinguished the fire, which was a Moped on fire.

Richard Watts, a member of the choir, said: “Some of the singers noticed a smell and alerted the Reverend.

“Once the fire was out the Reverend checked the area and found electrical feed cables burned.

“The fire officers wanted to do some checks so we had to move the piano so they could access the distribution box behind the organ.

“They said we would need an inspection and that the distribution box feeding the electricity on the north side of the church would need to be disconnected pending an inspection.

“We were due to have the Christmas Tree Festival the next day and would need all the electrics switched on. Fortunately the electrician was able to come out immediately and tested the circuit which was safe to use and we were able to go ahead with the Christmas Tree festival as planned.”