Luton Airport has admitted it does not know whose vehicles were damaged by a massive fire which ripped through one of its car parks three days ago.
Passengers who left their cars at Terminal Car Park 2 say they have been “left in limbo” since Tuesday night’s blaze.
The airport apologised to customers in a statement on Friday.
But it added that due to the fact the site still cannot be accessed safely, “we are unable to confirm the condition of any individual vehicle”.
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Moment fireball consumes Luton Airport car park
“We understand the distress this incident has caused for our car parking customers, and that many are still anxious for more detail,” the airport said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We’re sorry that we have not been able to respond as quickly as we would have liked. We have contacted all customers who have booked with us directly and are working hard to provide more details as soon as possible.
“However this a complex, and ever-changing situation and as the car park cannot be accessed safely, we are unable to confirm the condition of any individual vehicle at this time.”
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A temporary ramp was installed to enable undamaged vehicles to be removed.
Image: Katie Forbes with her husband Adrian
Katie Forbes, 42, who lives on the outskirts of Coventry, had travelled to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands with her husband, daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend, and is due to return on Friday.
They have been forced to hire a car for their return – with no information regarding the state of their vehicle.
Ms Forbes told the PA news agency earlier this week: “I’ve had no joy with Luton. I’ve heard nothing back, I’ve been tweeting them, everything, and nothing.
“I get it, they’re getting other people that are going to the airport, but to me there’s been no apology, not once has anybody said ‘we’re sorry about the situation’.
“We’re kind of left in limbo.”
Thomas Willett, a 29-year-old content manager for an estate agency, from Essex, had travelled to Gran Canaria with his partner and is due to return home on Sunday but said: “Currently, we have no means of getting back home.”
“We don’t know if our car has been damaged or not, or how we will be getting home from the airport,” Mr Willett told PA.
“Their duty of care should be to those whose vehicles have been impacted, but they seem to be replying to everyone else with other queries instead.”
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
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Image: Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.