A smoking junction box caused Wickham Road to be closed for three hours last night.

Fire crews were forced to close off the road for fear of the junction box exploding, while they waited for the electricity company to arrive.

The junction box had been spotted smoking at about 10:15pm last night and had blown its lid off.

It was considered a danger to traffic so the road was closed, but residents were allowed to stay in their homes and no evacuation was needed.